Record of Yggdrasil
by The Sage of Toads
Summary: Ten years after the defeat of Gaia, a former investigator for the Joule Foundation declassifies and releases her account of Operation Yggdrasil. In its pages, another adventure unfolds in the shadows of Justin, Feena, and their allies–shadows that extend all the way back to the dark heart of the Old World.
1. Incident at North Elencia

Disclaimer: Grandia isn't mine, I sold my copy to EB Games like a fool over a decade ago.

 _My name is Catalina. Ten years ago I was an agent of the Joule Foundation's Internal Investigation Branch, which provided oversight of the divisions within the Foundation. In particular, I was responsible for keeping a close eye on the Foundation's private security forces, the Garlyle, and the largest and most ambitious undertaking in the Foundation's history, which spanned over twenty years and cost tens of millions of gold pieces: Operation Yggdrasil._

 _Leading Operation Yggdrasil was General Baal, who in addition to his superb military leadership ability was an expert in the fields of Lost Technology, Anthropology, and Archaeology. His previous work led to the excavation of many pieces of Lost Technology and their successful reverse engineering. Nearly all of the Joule Foundation's most important contributions to mankind in the past twenty-five years can be attributed to Baal._

 _The stated goal of the project was to acquire the pieces of and reassemble a energy source created by the previous civilization, the Angelou, and harness its power to accelerate our own technological progress. This device, called the Spirit Stone, was the pinnacle of Angelou Technology–a device that broke the known natural laws and allowed for the production of infinite energy and even the instantaneous creation of matter._

 _Far fetched, many believed this to be foolish, until the Garlyle demonstrated the power of the scant few pieces of the stone they had and constructed the very first "Icarian Engine" to exist in over a thousand years–a clean-burning power generator that would go on to become the power source of the Garlyle's most powerful weapon system, the Grandeur-class Airship. Entirely convinced of the potential of the Spirit Stone, the Joule Foundation poured millions into Operation Yggdrasil._

 _As it turned out, Operation Yggdrasil was a near complete disaster, a plot by a madman to unleash a terrible power across the planet that saw thousands killed, millions more placed in mortal danger, and almost brought about the end of the world. The total cost of the disaster may never be known in exact numbers of lives lost, but the fallout saw not only the end of Baal and the Garlyle, but the total collapse of the Joule Foundation and its masters._

 _The purpose of this record, which I am disclosing in full, is to provide a full account of the tragedy of Operation Yggdrasil and the greed and corruption that allowed both the Joule and the Garlyle to cause so much mayhem. No names have been changed, and all redactions have been removed so that history will know the entire truth of the closest mankind has ever come to extinction in a thousand years._

…

 _The North Elencia Base was, at that time, the largest military base on the "New Continent." It was the heart of the military rail network that ran throughout Elencia as well as the main base on this side of the world for both the Grandeur airship and her sister ship Lyonlot. The majority of Garlyle Forces were trained here, and the General's son, Mullen called it his home._

 _It was here that the first sign of trouble regarding Operation Yggdrasil came to the attention to Joule Foundation and it was simple enough–a stolen military train…_

 **Record of Yggdrasil  
** **File 1: The Incident at North Elencia**

Location: 6,000 feet above North Elencia Base  
Time: 11:27 Hours Local

To the public, the fastest means of travel long distances was by steamship. Indeed, the steamer that traveled between the port city of Parm and her counterpart in the New World was touted as the fastest machine created by man's two hands, capable of crossing the vast distance in only three days even with diversions.

The Garlyle forces' airships _Grandeur_ and _Lyonlot_ could make the same crossing in six hours.

The airship _Bivrost_ of the Joule Foundation could make it in three.

The _Bivrost_ was designed as a scaled down and improved version of the _Grandeur,_ the result of lessons learned from the difficulties of lifting so much metal into the air. She was a smaller and slimmer ship, doing away with the "flying battleship" aesthetic of the _Grandeur_ -class and coming much closer to the Kite Fighter design that followed the development of _Grandeur._

 _Bivrost's_ hull was long and cylindrical, beginning in a sharply pointed nose and ending with an X-Tail type empennage that housed the screw-shaped Icarian Engine that powered the entire ship. She lacked weapons and the tall windmill propeller and that cluttered the Grandeur and Lyonlot, and her lifting engines were integrated directly into the hull as opposed to hanging off the side. Thanks to the streamlined design, the Icarian Engine provided all of the ship's forward thrust with no difficulty owing her tremendous speed.

The result was an airship coupled with a racing yacht than a battleship, and wound up sporting many of the amenities of a yacht including a panoramic view from her wood-finished bridge, from which Inspector Catalina observed the approach to North Elencia Base.

A twenty-five year old woman who hailed from the North side of Parm, Catalina shared the look of most Messinian women, tall, fair-skinned, and strongly built. Her wavy shoulder-length blonde hair accentuated her curious eyes–a mismatched blue right and red left, the latter the result of an injury sustained years ago. A faded scar crossed over her eye diagonally, the only other remnant of the wound on an otherwise attractive, youthful face. She wore eyeglasses, and a blue tailed three-piece suit with a white shirt underneath and a bright red tie–something unusual for a woman to be seen wearing even in a day and age where young women's names were being made in the Garlyle.

She looked down on the distant North Elencia base, which the _Bivrost_ circled from high above, as she was addressed via hologram communication by her superior. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Director Duminas, the _Bivrost_ is on approach to North Elencia."

To her left, a floor-mounted platform generated a hologram image of an old, rotund man with a white curly-beard dressed in a white suit and greatcoat. The man, Director Duminas of the Joule Foundation's Internal Investigation Branch, nodded to Catalina.

"Good, good my dear," Duminas said, "We have received an update from our insiders on the base. Not too long after the theft of the train, the _Grandeur_ herself departed in pursuit of it."

Catalina regarded this news with surprise. "I understand the train's value, but to commit an _airship_ to its recovery?"

"Precisely, my dear. Operation of the _Grandeur_ and _Lyonlot_ have become expensive thanks to the construction of J Base. Beyond shuttles between headquarters and J Base, flights are considered restricted. The flight of the _Grandeur_ in response to the theft of the train needs to be answered for and I am personally hoping that the Colonel can provide those answers."

Catalina hummed. "Are you sure you don't want to speak with the General instead? He might be quicker to answer."

"The General's work at J Base leaves him out of reach for most of the time. It'd be just as good to communicate by old steam than try to send a communique over the End of the World, even with the _Bivrost._ "

Catalina looked towards the horizon to the east with that. Rising above it, a large orange stone wall stood as the physical end of the world as most people knew it. It reached up over ten thousand feet, and according to the many surveys performed by explorers and the Garlyle, it was still gradually growing.

"Besides, Operation Yggdrasil's acceleration has warranted nearly all of the General's time and effort. They've even dug up the old Surt Ruins on Messina, you know! They're desperate to find some kind of clue about the whereabouts of the other pieces of the Stone."

Catalina nodded. "I heard, many of the boys from my hometown have sent home complaints about joining the forces and then ending up working in the same holes they dug up for fun in their backyards instead of adventuring in the new world."

Duminas laughed heartily. "Ah, the poor lads. I'd be disappointed too. Well then, I want a full investigation on the theft of the train and the flight. I expect a response from you by tomorrow. May the Spirits guide you, my dear."

"Yes Director," Catalina replied before the image of her superior faded. Soon as it was gone, and the device shut down, she sneered a bit and went back to sit in her seat above the bridge's helm.

"My dear," she grumbled, "I swear he treats me like his secretary sometimes!"

The two pilots of the ship, one a young girl with gray eyes and brown hair styled in pigtails and the other a nearly identical young boy with the same eyes and short brown hair, exchanged looks.

"Well, until you changed your look up, a lot of people did mistake you for a secretary," the girl pointed out.

Catalina shot a look at her. "I know; I worked my butt off to be respected as an agent in the field who got to the bottom of things, I did not come this far to be seen as someone's pet."

"Given how much the Foundation owns that butt, and ours, we're not in much position to complain," said the boy.

"We might not be in a position but that doesn't mean we can't," Catalina replied, "But that's why we work hard, so we can at least be recognized for our work."

The girl nodded in agreement. "That's right."

"Inspector, we've gotten clearance to land," the boy then reported.

"Set us down then, I would like to get started right away," Catalina replied.

"Aye, aye, Sir."

…

Location: North Elencia Base Dock  
Time: 11:39 Hours Local

The large vents covering the lifting engine ports slid open, directing the incredible thrust of the _Bivrost's_ lifting engines downward as her main engine slowed to idle. The craft's wings folded downward at the midpoint, and the large bicycle landing gear of the ship extended from her keel–allowing her to set down on the pad directly behind the massive gantry that was required for the perpetually hovering Grandeur.

Waiting by the entrance of the ship, were Catalina's welcoming committee, three of the top performing units of the Garlyle Forces, the Bloody Rose, Desert Moon, and Lightning Star Squads–and their white-uniformed commanding officers.

"So this is _Bivrost,_ huh?" Sergeant Saki, a tomboyish, freckle-faced redheaded girl who commanded the Lightning Star said. "I don't see why there's such a hype about it, it doesn't even have guns."

"That's because it doesn't need guns, it can fly faster than even our Kites," Sergeant Mio of the Desert Moon, a young woman with flowing green hair and matching eyes hidden behind yellow-tinted sunglasses, revealed.

"Not _my_ Kite," Saki snapped at her.

"Saki, your Kite couldn't outfly a children's box kite," Mio gently noted, "Need I remind you of our respective K/D ratios in aggressor training?"

"It's not like you shot me down any of those times!" Saki yelled.

The pale violet haired and eyed Sergeant Nana, of the Bloody Rose Squad, sniffed haughtily as she pretended to be so above her bickering colleagues. After all, she knew that _her_ kite could trounce both theirs in all areas of combat.

Saki turned suddenly and gave her a nasty look. "Don't stand there acting all haughty. I shot you down like five times during each of the last five training sessions, AND your entire squad!"

Nana's placid composure almost instantly shattered, and she turned to Saki. "Pardon you, Saki? I couldn't hear you over how utterly embarrassing you were during the train fiasco."

"Excuse you?! You were the one who lagged behind my men!"

"Had your forces not been focused on rushing in ahead of everyone, we would've caught them all without incident!"

Mio glanced towards the _Bivrost,_ and saw that Catalina had come down from it."Oops."

"Pardon me, but perhaps you could elaborate on that?" Catalina said politely.

All three sergeants quickly turned their attention to the woman, with Saki quickly putting on her façade of professionalism. "Men, attention on deck. Salute!"

The Garlyle soldiers behind the three sergeants quickly snapped into salute, much to Catalina's unshown amusement.

"Sergeant Saki of the Lightning Star Squad, reporting!" Saki introduced herself.

"Sergeant Nana of the Bloody Rose Squad, reporting!" Nana then spoke.

"Sergeant Mio of the Desert Moon Squad, reporting!" Mio added.

Though not military, Catalina returned the salute. "Ladies, hello, I am Inspector Catalina from the Joule Foundation Internal Investigation Bureau. As you were informed, I am here to find out exactly what happened here yesterday."

"Yes, and we have been tasked to serve as your escorts and answer your questions," Mio said.

Already they were deflecting her? "Actually, I would prefer to meet with the Colonel directly on the matter. Can you take me to him, or Lieutenant Leen at least?"

"The Colonel is busy meeting with wounded personnel," Mio informed.

" _Wounded personnel?"_ Catalina thought in surprise.

"Yes, and _the Lieutenant_ is conducting her own investigation afield," Saki added, the spike of hostility in her tone not escaping the investigator's notice, "So if you'd like to get out of this hot sun and talk about what happened, we'd be glad to discuss the incident inside!"

Catalina reached up and brushed a strand of blonde hair off her glasses. "I suppose I haven't much choice in the matter; I will still be seeing the Colonel before I leave, however."

"Of course, we'll see to it that the Colonel is informed," Nana said with a tone implying that they wouldn't.

Catalina hid her grimace. It looked like she was in for a long day…

…

Location: North Elencia Base Mess Hall  
Time: 11:48 Hours Local

Being a bureaucrat herself, Catalina was never a fan of bureaucracy. Straight talk was nonexistent, if someone asked you a question for anything the first thing to do was shove them straight off to someone else who didn't have the answer so they could shove them off to someone further. This was exacerbated by the bad habit of departments bloating their staff with people who had no idea what they were doing but got their positions as favors or alternatives to being put to the sword.

The Garlyle Forces were no different from any other division of the Foundation in that regard, except for the fact that Garlyle's contributions to humanity gave them a chip on their shoulder that Catalina could do without.

"So, Sergeants, now that we're all seated I would like to go straight to the point," Catalina said over the bowl of leafy salad she'd picked up from the galley, while one hand rested a pen on the notebook beside the bowl, "I want a full report on what happened yesterday and the night before."

Directly across from her, Nana, Saki, and Mio all exchanged looks, before the latter two leveled their gazes on Nana. Nana returned their looks with animosity, before she went back to a professional expression.

"Yes, of course," she began, "Two days ago at 1600 hours we captured three adventurers who had illegally infiltrated the base."

Catalina took that information with confusion. "Adventurers?"

"Yes, two adolescents and a pre-adolescent."

" _They're taking me for a ride,"_ Catalina thought. No one went out adventuring anymore, much less children! All that was left to adventure to was beyond the wall and it was only possible to go there by air.

"We detained the three of them in the brig, but after tricking the guards they managed to escape into the ventilation shafts of the facility, from where they ambushed our soldiers and ransacked their quarters for weapons and equipment," Nana continued, "The base quickly mobilized to recapture them, but due to the poor showings of the Lightning Star and Desert Moon Squads, the three were able to escape with little difficulty aboard the military train."

Saki's face burned with anger, as she slowly turned to glare fiercely at her colleague. Mio's reaction was more subtle, lifting a hand up to daintily adjust her now opaque yellow-tinted sunglasses as the corner of her placidly smiling lips twitched jarringly.

"I see," Catalina said as she wrote down what she was being told, "Were you able to ID the Adventurers?"

"Yes," Mio then said before Nana could, "Two of the adventurers, the young male adolescent and the female preadolescent were from the town of Old Parm. Justin and Sue."

She reached into one of her uniform's pockets and produced a trio of photographs before setting them down for Catalina to appraise.

Catalina stared at the pictures, and then blinked in surprise. She'd definitely seen the roughed up and tied up boy in the picture before. Justin was the son of a pirate and an adventurer who'd settled down in the South side of Parm, and given the hell that boy would raise he'd taken after both of them. The young purple-haired girl who sported no sign of being roughed up and wore a giant yellow butterfly ornament on her head was also a familiar face–Justin's ever present companion also from the South Side.

" _Huh, so that pain in everyone's neck actually manned up and did followed his father's footsteps. Good for him I suppose, but…"_

Catalina found it hard to believe that a noisy South Parm brat whose claims to infamy were getting jumped by Northside kids and vandalizing property could even survive a day as an adventurer, let alone pull off this stunt.

She then looked to the third picture, a girl with magnificent green hair who was much too pretty to be anywhere near Justin's league defiantly glared back. Catalina had been to New Parm enough to recognize who _she_ was.

"The Legendary Feena?" Well, suddenly this all sounded a lot more plausible.

"Who?" the three sergeants asked as one.

Catalina hummed. "You three have never been to New Parm? Not even on shore leave?"

"Hmph, why go there?" Saki asked, "There's nothing but overweight old men."

"And overweight young men," Nana agreed.

Mio grew haunted. "And _Pakon."_

All three shuddered, Catalina too.

"Well if you did, you'd know that Feena was a rare breed… the last of her kind. A genuine adventurer who has quite a reputation," Catalina replied, "But I digress. What happened next?"

Mio resumed giving the report. "Due to injuries sustained in their escape by our soldiers, the pursuit of the train was delayed by a number of hours. Colonel Mullen, however, anticipated this delay and sortied the _Grandeur_ to trail after the train and coordinate our pursuit."

Catalina resumed writing. "These kids did that much damage?"

"They were very strong," Nana quickly insisted, "As I stated before, both Lightning Star and Desert Moon Squads suffered embarrassing defeats at their hands. This was almost certainly due to poor discipline and an underestimation of the enemy."

Saki had enough "I would like to add that the Bloody Rose Squad didn't get to fight them at all! Due to a complete lack of unpreparedness they all basically got caught with their pants down and by the time they even caught up the prisoners were long gone!"

Mio wasn't about to let it go either. "Also, when we finally did intercept the train, the Bloody Rose Squad's difficulty in boarding the train from their Kites gave the prisoners ample time to set a trap that allowed them to escape capture."

Nana's expression tightened, as if she wanted to strike both her colleagues for daring to make her look bad despite her own ardent efforts at embarrassing them.

Catalina finished writing down their unneeded commentary and nodded. "I see, so essentially speaking, due to the incompetence of the three of you, the prisoners were able to break from the most secure and top secret military base on this side of the wall, stole a high performance military train, and were able to escape your pursuit with little difficulty?"

That shut all three of them up nicely. Catalina especially liked how Nana's mouth fell open when she realized she had talked herself right into looking as much of a boob as the two she was throwing shade at.

"Thank you for being so upfront and candid about a difficult incident, Sergeants, I understand how the toll of such a failure can affect one's pride," she said, "Now that I have your report I would like to speak with the Colonel and get his perspective on the incident."

The three resumed talking, and all were suddenly unified on one thing: not letting her see the Colonel, and they were extra nasty about it.

"You were told that you would see the Colonel before you left, _civilian,"_ Nana said.

"Having a little patience wouldn't hurt," Mio pointed out, "Because you're in no position to order us around."

"Unless you're in that much of a hurry to leave!" Saki snapped at her.

Catalina drew back, astonished at their attitudes, before lifting up a hand to adjust her own glasses. "I see that I'm not getting this without a fight, am I?"

"You won't get it with a fight," Saki shot back.

Nana smirked at the very idea of it. "But if you insist on trying, you're welcome to."

Mio smiled. "Just remember that you're in a Garlyle Base, challenging elite soldiers, who are surrounded by their subordinates."

All three stood up, looming over her as they spoke together, "It won't end well for you."

Catalina drew back a bit more, surprised at their eagerness for an excuse to draw their swords. Her free hand unconsciously went behind her back, fingers twitching as they neared her waist.

"A-ah… S-Sergeant Nana, sir!" a young man's voice suddenly called out.

Nana turned around to look at the soldier who accosted her. "What is it?"

She looked at his rank insignia, and her expression soured in disgust. "Private?"

The Garlyle Soldier saluted. "Err… Private Gontz, of the Fae Squad…"

That just made Nana's expression _nastier._

"… Err… Colonel Mullen noticed the arrival of the _Bivrost_ and requested that he meet with the Investigator immediately, um… sir."

Catalina immediately rose from her seat, her composure relaxed again. "Is that a fact? A direct order from the Colonel?"

Gontz looked over to Catalina. "Yes! He requested I go personally, right after he healed me up!"

All three sergeants did not look happy at this bit of news, and cast suspicious looks to one another.

"Well then I'd better not keep him waiting!" Catalina said as she turned to follow Gontz out of the cafeteria, "Lead the way, soldier!"

"Yes, this way, _hurry!"_ Gontz all but pleaded as he headed out the door.

Catalina was out like a gunshot… and then quickly hurried back in to grab her bowl of salad.

"Sorry, ladies, I haven't had my lunch and I'm starving, ta!" she said before she quickly retreated back out the door.

As she left out the door, Nana palmed her face. "Ugh, I hate civilians…"

"I hate the Lieutenant's men even more; did you see him? I bet he doesn't even lift!" Saki groused.

Mio hummed. "How annoying, we should just get rid of her if she shows up again."

"Agreed," Nana and Saki said together.

…

Location: North Elencia Base Corridor  
Time: 12:03 Hours Local

"Nice save there, kid," Catalina congratulated the fresh-faced, blue-eyed boy of a soldier who looked like his beige Garlyle uniform barely fit on his skinny frame.

Gontz looked over to her. "I couldn't just sit there and let them bully you like that. Those three are awful, as you already saw."

Catalina crammed a considerable amount of salad into her mouth. "Fo, Colonel Muffin didnf asf f'r me?"

"Uh, no… I was actually waiting for those three to leave so I could get my lunch without being harassed," Gontz admitted.

Catalina swallowed her food and chuckled. "That took a lot of nerve."

"The Colonel respects men who do the right thing," Gontz replied.

"Is that what he tells you?" Catalina laughed again and began spearing more greens with her fork, before she asked, "Were those three not paying attention when he said that?"

"There's no reasoning with them at all, they're basically the Colonel's fangirls and will do whatever _they think_ makes them look good to him, steer wide of them any chance you get. Find Lieutenant Leen or basically anyone but them and their men."

Catalina nodded. "Gontz you said your name was, right? Are you from North Parm?"

Gontz smiled. "Yeah! You from?"

Catalina returned the smile. "Northside born and raised. Your name sounded like a little pain in the neck who keeps getting into fights by the river."

Gontz laughed. "Ah, my little brother, Gantz."

Catalina then hummed. "So you would know about Justin, right?"

Gontz nodded. "Oh yeah, he and I go way back I always had to break him and Gantz up. Gantz would always be trying to pester Sue into becoming his girl, he really likes her and all, and Justin would have to beat him up."

"I've heard," Catalina chowed down on the rest of her salad quickly, before resting the bowl on the flat top of Gontz's helmet to take her pen and paper in her hands.

"You wouldn't happen to know about what happened with him here at the base, would you?" she asked.

Gontz was surprised. "Wait, Justin was _here?"_

"You mean with the ruckus those three described, you didn't know? At all?" she asked.

Gontz shook his head. "If you mean the train theft, no. All of the Fae Unit were aboard the _Grandeur_ prepping for a mission when the sergeants brought some VIPs up from New Parm and took them to the brig…"

Catalina slowed her stroll, Gontz doing the same, as she flipped her notebook back a page. She then looked at the young soldier. "VIPs, you say? There wasn't any attempt at a base infiltration?"

"No sir," Gontz replied, "Just the VIPs. About an hour after that there was an alert, but that was because of the train being stolen… did Justin do that? Aw man…"

"And the _Grandeur_ took off for its mission right after the alarm?" Catalina asked.

Gontz nodded, and paled slightly as a realization overcame him. "Uh… yeah, well it's more that since she was rarin' to go that they figured they'd send her out after the train anyway."

Catalina quickly wrote that down into her notebook, and hummed. "Gontz, don't you worry about anything you say to me. I'm from the Foundation, you can tell me anything you would to the Colonel; your name won't pop up on any of my reports."

Relief washed over him, then. "Oh, okay then good…"

"Still, I'd rather you not say anything more until I had a word with the Colonel," Catalina then said, "Where is he, for real?"

Gontz blinked. "Uh, he's really in the base hospital, helping heal the men injured yesterday."

Catalina returned the vacant look of surprise for a moment. "… Seriously?"

…

 _I remember the first time I had seen Colonel Mullen, I was a fifteen year old debutante at one of the Joule Foundation's decadent debutante balls. I was dressed like a princess, being shown off by my factory owning father who had high hopes to make a blushing bride out of me for some Foundation Elite. Mullen's presence there was highly anticipated among us girls, as he was our age and every girl wanted a chance to catch the eye of the General's handsome son. That was quickly dashed, because when he showed up to the party he was dressed like some wild man of the forest and made the_ _ **worst**_ _scene._

 _One that had the General, his father, drawing his sword to put it down._

 _Suffice to say that night was ruined._

 _I didn't see him after that night at any other Foundation function, I only heard rumors of a wild brat entering the Garlyle Forces and quickly turning into a refined pretty boy who could flash a smile and soldiers men and women alike would march straight into hell behind him without a second thought. I sincerely didn't buy the hype._

 _But then I saw the Colonel…_

Location: North Elencia Base Hospital  
Time: 12:07 Hours Local

With Gontz a pace ahead of her, Catalina entered the base hospital's infirmary to find the scene she had been told to expect but refused to believe it even when she saw it. An extremely handsome blonde-haired, green-eyed man dressed in a regal red officer's uniform with gold-trimmed white cape stood among the hospital beds occupied by wounded soldiers.

In his right hand, he held his unsheathed sword above his head, and the air shimmered in blue lights as rings circled around the blade, casting a powerful healing magic that healed the injuries of many of the men.

Seeing the light, Catalina stepped back from it, bringing a hand up to cover her injured eye at first, but stopping as she stared at the Colonel.

After several moments, the magic spell faded, and the Colonel smartly sheathed his sword. He then addressed his soldiers.

"There, that should be the last of you. As I've said before, I thank you all for your patience and your willingness to put up with what I demand of you–especially when it puts you in harm's way. While this mission was a failure, and many of you suffered injuries, in failure we've learned new information and taken a great leap towards the ultimate goal of a brighter future for all of mankind."

"It is an honor, Colonel!" the soldiers replied.

"You are all dismissed for the day, but I expect you at muster at 0400," Colonel Mullen said, earning cheers from the men.

"Thank you, Colonel!" they chorused, before rising from their beds and leaving the room.

Mullen smiled as he watched his soldiers leave, which brought his gaze to meet Catalina's. He immediately identified her the symbol of a green lightning bolt inside of a brown circle pinned on her suit's breast. "The Foundation's investigator, you got here quickly… did you come aboard _Bivrost?"_

"That's right," she replied, "The Foundation is concerned about what happened here, what with the breaches of security and the unauthorized flights."

The very first thing that sat at the forefront of Catalina's mind as she kept to her business was how stupidly handsome the man was. It honestly left her a little awestruck.

Mullen nodded and walked over to the large windows that overlooked the gantry of the Grandeur. He leaned forward and saw the white hull of the Bivrost behind it.

"A fine ship, not one you take into battle, but certainly worth her weight in gold," he complimented the vessel before turning back to her.

"Maybe a little more," Catalina replied as she tried to shake off his handsomeness, "But if we can cut directly to the chase, Colonel?"

Mullen regarded Catalina carefully, as he nodded. "Yes?"

"What exactly happened here over the last two days? I understand that North Parm was infiltrated by Adventurers, who then broke out and stole a train?" she asked, "Further, the Grandeur was deployed against the train. Why?"

Mullen smiled. "You came all that way to ask such a simple question. I hope you won't be disappointed by the answer."

Catalina frowned. "I'll be the judge of it."

"The truth is, we were taking part in a top secret mission pertaining to Operation Yggdrasil in the Misty Forest. The theft of the train was staged to ensure the success of the mission."

Catalina looked up from the notebook as she'd almost absently written down what was just said by the Colonel. "… Pardon?"

Gontz seemed surprised as well that the Colonel would reveal such classified information.

"Yes, unfortunately the mission turned out to be a stunning failure, extremely bad intelligence on our objective led us to believe there was a fragment of the Spirit Stone deep in the East Misty Forest, but we were wrong. All in all, it was a very expensive waste of time," Mullen admitted.

Catalina found the answer received very straight forward–refreshingly so. "Can I see your reports on the mission?"

"Due to the sensitive nature of the mission in question, any you request will be redacted to protect secrets, I hope you're comfortable with that," Mullen replied.

"I understand, Colonel Mullen," she said as she realized that he was staring at her eyes. She averted them by reflex, giving away that she was aware of his gaze.

Mullen's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry for that, Inspector… I just couldn't help notice it."

"It's all right, Colonel, you're not the first to stare," she quickly insisted, "I would just like to review your after action report and bring back my final report to Director Duminas, hopefully before my dinner."

Mullen nodded. "Or you could simply have your dinner here, the Grandeur's cooks are some of the best in the New World, they'd be honored to prepare you a meal."

That set Catalina aback. _"Did he just make a pass at me?"_

"Oh, that's nice of you Colonel," she said as she brushed some hair from her glasses with the tail end of her pen, her face growing warm, "But I don't have much stomach for New World cuisine, it's too spicy."

Mullen nodded in understanding. "If you insist, I only suggested it because there's a lot of information to go over."

Catalina was sure that there was, but an intrusive thought suggested she'd rather be studying Mullen. Or have him studying her, in-depth.

"I'll reconsider the dinner offer, depending on what I end up seeing in the after action reports," she offered, "But only if you'll accompany me."

It was Mullen's turn to be taken aback. "A flattering offer, but I'll have to decline. I have my own reports to be looking forward to and I can hardly spare the time."

Catalina could hear the roar of her kite going down in flames and crashing. Oh well, big girls didn't cry. "I see, well thank you Colonel. Care to see me to the Grandeur so I may await those reports?"

Mullen nodded, and looked to Gontz. "Private Gontz, escort Inspector Catalina and I to the Grandeur's guest cabin and assume guard detail."

Gontz's eyes widened, almost sparkling as he was addressed by name by the Colonel himself. "Y-yes Colonel, I won't let you down!"

Mullen then went for the exit of the hospital's infirmary. "Shall we, then?"

Catalina, understanding why even strapping a young man like Gontz would be so taken in by the charismatic Colonel, huffed in amusement and followed both young men out.

Despite the haze of attraction, however, her mind was working on some things that bothered her. A costly waste of time, Mullen said. Perhaps the Colonel was being _too_ straightforward about it.

…

 _In hindsight, the reports I received from Mullen over the course of Operation Yggdrasil were without a doubt the most accurate and informative I could ask for. However, he definitely had his Father's knack of telling people exactly what they wanted to hear while keeping more important information to himself._

 _His report revealed the whole picture: Justin, Sue, and Feena had rescued a child Humanoid–a human-like species normally found on the other side of the End of the World–that had been chased out of the Misty Forest by those Sergeants. The Sergeants, who had been tasked with finding the boy's village, summarily captured them and brought them to the base._

 _Due to the boy's rough treatment at the hands of his pursuers, he refused to cooperate with the Garlyle and forced Colonel Mullen and Lieutenant Leen to arrange the escape. This worked flawlessly, with Justin's party leading the Grandeur straight to the Humanoid village in the Misty Forest… where their mission failed._

 _The Garlyle had information regarding this village, called Luc, and the location of a possible spirit stone fragment, but during the retrieval the alleged fragment shattered and revealed that it wasn't. After that, the Grandeur departed due to the increasing mist._

 _I thought that this was strange. Why scrub the entire mission then, and let those three go? They weren't just gambling on the impenetrable mists of that forest to take care of them for them. What about Luc Village, and the only known Humanoids on this side of the wall? That night I got those answers, and it began my descent into the reality of Operation Yggdrasil._

Location: _Grandeur_ Guest Quarters  
Time: 18:49 Hours Local

Catalina had spent the next six hours buried in the reports provided to her by Colonel Mullen. The reports from the three Sergeants, which were a horror to read given their rancid treatment of that humanoid boy, and the train theft and Luc Village mission took up the majority of her time.

"So when was the last time you were back in Northside?" she idly asked the Private as she drummed her fingers on the handheld radio she used to keep in contact with her ship. It was a hand-held radio, whose blue-faced screen flashed white every few seconds.

"Three weeks ago, when I went to visit my family," Gontz, who was seated across from her, said, "Back during the Surt Ruins excavation."

Catalina nodded as she set down the train report on the table. She interlaced her fingers and stared down at the pictures of Justin, Sue, and Feena as she tried to work her head their role in this.

"You didn't see Justin or Sue there by any chance, did you?" she asked.

"Yes, I did actually," Gontz said, "That makes this all the more amazing, you know? They were still just kids playing around on the streets and getting into mischief when I last saw them. Now they're pulling stunts that special operations classes will probably be teaching for years."

That surprised Catalina, it wasn't even that long ago. "Really?"

"In fact, the last time I saw either of them was at the Surt Ruins during the excavation."

"Huh!" Catalina exclaimed in surprise to Gontz, "What were they doing there?"

"Oh, he and Sue came up to take part in the dig," Gontz replied, "They had an official letter from the Curator at the Baal Museum to head in with the Garlyle to dig in the ruins. Sad thing was, they ran right into Nana, Saki, and Mio."

Catalina huffed. "I imagine it was every bit as unpleasant for him as it was for me."

"They destroyed the letter and chased them off," Gontz said, "But they went in anyway and caused a commotion. An hour later they were running like crazy out of the camp, Justin had this big grin on his face like he had the time of his life."

"And three weeks later, they're here…" Catalina said softly.

She turned and looked at her radio. "Say, tell me if this sounds crazy to you?"

Gontz hummed. "What?"

"I think Justin saw something down there, in the Surt Ruins," Catalina suggested.

Gontz blinked several times. "You think so? The excavation found a few more rooms and old machinery, but nothing worth seeing."

"Yes, but I believe he saw something down there no one else had realized, and it inspired him to go straight to Elencia."

She then patted on the reports. "And he went to the Dom Ruins to find something else that the Garlyle missed."

Gontz looked down at the reports, then up at her. "Go on?"

"The Sergeant's reports say that Justin's party picked up the humanoid just outside of the ruins. When they trailed them to the Herb mountains and captured them, they were carrying weapons and items that could have come from the ruins," Catalina patted the reports again, "Earlier I contacted my associates down in New Parm and asked them to gather some information about Justin's movements in the town. I am willing to bet my paycheck that as soon as he was off the boat he was getting supplies to go straight there."

Before Gontz could reply, a blue light on the radio's screen began to blink.

Seeing it, Catalina smiled and pressed the call button. "Imogen, what do you have for me?"

A miniature hologram projection appeared, showing the brown-haired, gray-eyed girl who helmed _Bivrost_. She quickly waved. "Hello, Catalina! We got a lot of information regarding Justin!"

Catalina smirked to Gontz, before nodding to Imogen. "Go on?"

"Well, his first stop when in town was to go to the Adventurer's Society to meet up with its former president, Gauss and arrange an expedition to the Dom Ruins," Imogen reported, "But he wound up crossing Gauss' son Pakon."

Catalina shuddered.

"After that, he wound up in a fight with Pakon when Pakon tried to force Feena to marry him. He and Sue absolutely demolished the New Parm Church crashing the wedding and pummeling the stuffing out of Pakon's bodyguard."

"Yeah, that sounds like Justin, he won't stop at nothing to come to a girl's rescue," Gontz said with a short laugh.

Catalina rolled her eyes, before she spoke to Imogen, "And then they headed for the Dom Ruins?"

"That's right, and that's actually all we've got. He hasn't been seen in town since and given what happened here he probably won't try to go back," Imogen said.

Catalina smiled. "That's fine, he has no intention of going back. I think his next destination is the End of the World."

Imogen's big gray eyes shifted to show her curiosity at the very idea. "You think he's going to try to climb it, don't you?"

"He will," Gontz said without hesitation.

"If I were feeling invincible after escaping and outsmarting the Garlyle, I'd believe I would," Catalina said as she stood up. "Imo, you and Hector warm up the _Bivrost,_ I want to take a flight to the Dom Ruins."

But first she had to cancel dinner with the Colonel, and with that she stood up. "Private Gontz, I'd like for you to see me to the bridge."

Gontz nodded. "Yes, sir."

…

Location: _Grandeur_ Passageway  
Time: 18:57 Hours Local

Walking briskly down the corridor, Catalina brought the radio to her ear. "How long until we're airborne?"

"We kept the engines idling, so five minutes," Imogen replied.

"Fantastic," Catalina replied, "I'm going to report to the Colonel my findings regarding Justin and then I'll…"

An uncomfortable tingling brought her free hand over her old injury. "… Be aboard. It shouldn't take me more than ten minutes."

"Aye, aye, sir! Before you leave can you get me an autograph from Herr Mullen~!" Imogen responded before the call ended.

Gontz had been polite about it up to this point, Catalina's scar and the red color to her eye, but seeing her irritation and figuring this was the last he'd see of her for a while, he had to ask. "Er… Catalina? Is there something wrong with your eye?"

"Aside from the obvious?" Catalina asked jovially back, "It's just an old injury that won't heal."

"Not even magic works?"

"Magic actually makes it _worse,"_ Catalina whispered to him, "My body doesn't agree with it."

Gontz was mystified by the very idea. "Gee, I've never heard of _that_ happening before."

"It's a sign of the times," Catalina replied before the irritation got worse. "Is there something going on here aboard this ship?"

She covered her eye, her palm fitting over the entirety of her scar, as she stopped in front of the doors leading to the bridge. As Gontz was to knock and ask permission to enter, Catalina held her radio out in front of him, stopping him. She leaned forward and placed her left ear against the door.

Inside the Command Bridge, which doubled as a private meeting room for General Baal and his subordinates, Colonel Mullen listened to Lieutenant Leen give her report following her mission. Leen, who was dressed in a black body suit she wore a white coat and short blue cape over, , appeared to fidget as she gave her report.

"We searched the area where the mists had been thinning, but a low cloud deck made it difficult. While it may have been the use of magic to clear the mist, the chances are just as good that it was natural phenomena," she reported.

Mullen nodded. "Then for now Justin and the final piece of the Spirit Stone are outside of our reach. We will have to wait until he comes crawling out of the forest to grab him."

Catalina's eyes widened. _"Wait, what?"_

Leen was concerned, "If we wait too long, the General won't be pleased. He's become impatient, lately…"

"I know, Leen, leave him–and Justin–to me for now," Mullen asked his subordinate, "You've done more than enough at this point."

Leen flushed, her pale skin reddening noticeably at her cheeks. "Thank you sir."

"Father can afford to rest on his laurels for now, we know where the final piece is and it's only a short matter of when and not if we acquire it," Mullen reassured her.

"But what if he doesn't come out of the forest?" Leen asked.

"With everything he's done so far, I'd be more surprised if he didn't. Besides, your sister is with him, and if she's anything like you she'll see him through without a problem."

Leen, ever unused to compliments from her superior, took it graciously and with great humility–though her turmoil was readily apparent. "Th-thank you, sir, but there's still the matter of us taking it from them."

Mullen rested a hand on Leen's shoulder. "I know it's difficult but with willful people like Justin and I there's no doubt that force will be necessary. Your gentle nature is inspiring, Lieutenant. I'm sorry if I make things hard on you."

Leen gently brushed off his hand. "It's all right, Colonel. I knew from the moment I joined, that this would not be easy. This is an awful situation, but we're so close now… stopping simply because of my personal feelings would make all of the sacrifices others have made to this point meaningless."

Mullen never ceased to be struck by this young woman's resolve. He gave her a bittersweet smile, as he nodded slowly,

"If only there were more like you in the world, then we wouldn't have a need for Operation Yggdrasil," he said, "We'd still be living as the Angelou did."

Leen's cheeks turned a shade of red darker as she looked away.

On the other side of the door, Catalina's fingers dug into her head as she stepped back, shocked.

"Catalina…?" Gontz asked.

" _I just heard something that I was not supposed to,"_ she realized.

She smartly performed an about face and began marching briskly back the way she came. Gontz grew concerned, very concerned.

"Hey, uh, Cat…?" he asked as he caught up with her. "What's going on, do you need to see the infirmary-?"

He yelped when Catalina grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and pulled him close. "Say Gontz, I think I need you to see me back to the _Bivrost."_

"But what about the Colonel-?"

"He's not a priority for me right now," she quickly replied as she let him go.

Gontz stopped. "Catalina, what's going on, did… did you hear something in there?!"

Catalina turned to face him, and noticed that his hand was uncomfortably close to his sword.

Catalina quickly brought up her hands. "Whoa… nothing so serious. Just something that we had no business walking in on."

Gontz turned his head slightly away from her, raising an eyebrow.

"Something between him and Lieutenant Leen?" Catalina quickly said, emphatically.

Gontz needed a second to process it, before his eyes widened in shock. "No way… really?!"

Catalina bit her lower lip, and looked aside towards the doors to the bridge. "Mmmhm!"

"Huh… I always figured something was going on between them… but I didn't think they were like _that."_

"Hey, it happens. Like if I were in the Lieutenant's shoes there'd be no speculation on the matter. None."

Gontz blushed at her insinuation. "I imagine not."

"I would also be dismissed for fraternization, but it would be _worth it,"_ Catalina added before she placed her hand on Gontz's back and guided her along with him, "Well then, shall we?"

"R-right, sir," Gontz quickly said as he was led out.

…

Location: North Elencia Base Dock  
Time: 19:06 Hours Local

The walk from the _Grandeur_ to the _Bivrost_ was mercifully brief and with little interference from the soldiers who saw Catalina and her escort walk past. By the time they reached the Joule Foundation ship, her Icarian Engine was turning at full RPM, creating an up-pitched version of the droning hum that came from the idling _Grandeur._

"It's a shame that you're leaving, it was nice to talk to someone from home!" Gontz called out over the _Bivrost's_ engine.

"I agree on having someone from home to talk to! Folks from Marna aren't nearly as good conversation, and New Parm's too soft!" Catalina replied, "And don't get me started on those Southside hooligans!"

Gontz laughed. "Right?"

As they walked up the ramp and into the airlock of the ship, she pulled out a scroll from inside her suit. "But we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other."

Gontz stopped. "Really?"

She ran her finger down the rolled up scroll, which began to glow in a blue light, water magic. She then tossed the scroll at Gontz, which exploded into a mass of bubbles that enveloped and put him right to sleep.

Covering her eye in irritation, she caught Gontz and helped his sleeping body carefully to the floor as the door automatically swung closed and locked. As soon as he was on the floor, Catalina reached up and palmed the intercom button. "Get us airborne and straight to the Dom Ruins, and put a call ahead to Director Duminas. There's something big going on and he needs to hear it."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Imogen called back.

As the _Bivrost_ lifted off the ground, Catalina took Gontz by his shoulders and began dragging him to the ship's brig, a dark look on her face.

"Desperate about the whereabouts, huh?" she paraphrased Duminas.

She stopped and looked out a portside window, at the distant End of the World, its imposing face concealing the mysteries that lay behind it.

 _In an emergency budget meeting between the Maesters of the Joule Foundation, General Baal reported that Operation Yggdrasil's progress had been slowed by the Garlyle's inability to locate the remaining three pieces of the Spirit Stone. The Surt Ruins Excavation was funded under the pretense that there were perhaps more clues to the location of those pieces._

 _The truth was anything but that: Operation Yggdrasil was deep in its final stage, the only piece left for its completion rested in the hands of a young boy, and the Garlyle Forces were deliberately deceiving the Joule Foundation._

 _There was something very wrong going on beyond the Wall._

* * *

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	2. The Beautiful Woman of Alent

Disclaimer: I really need to get an undub of this game for more NORIO WAKAMOTO.

 _In the ten years I've had to reflect upon since the end of Operation Yggdrasil, there were many actions I took that I now deeply regret. While I can justify what I did–especially in light of what occurred–there isn't a day where I'm not haunted by it._

 _One thing I do not regret in the slightest, however, is taking that boy with me from that place._

 _One thing I do, was insisting that I speak with the Director immediately after leaving North Elencia._

 **Record of Yggdrasil  
** **File 2: The Beautiful Woman Of Alent**

Location: 23,000 feet above Northern Elencia  
Time: 19:38 Hours Local

Catalina stood with her gaze aimed to the floor of the _Bivrost's_ bridge, unable to bring herself to look up at Director Duminas as she finished giving her report. She had told him everything she had gathered from her investigation, from the truth behind the status of Operation Yggdrasil, to the unlikely involvement of a young boy from Parm and his Adventurer friends.

Duminas had taken the news heavily, and the bearded fat old man was silently contemplating the deeply troubling ramifications of it.

"All of this time, General Baal has been deceiving the Foundation, taking advantage of his distance from us to seize the glory of Operation Yggdrasil for himself," he said sternly, "Yes, my dear, this is deeply troubling."

"Troubling, Director? I believe this is treason itself. The General has effectively led a silent mutiny since the Foundation is hardly a concern to him," Catalina said without looking up.

"It's more than a mutiny, my dear, it is a coup!" Duminas suddenly said as his projection rose from where he sat, "If Baal manages to complete the Spirit Stone, then the unstoppable power of the Angelou, of the Icarians, is at his hand! There would be no force on this side of the End of the World that could stop him!"

Catalina looked up, then averted her eyes again, this time to her right and the beautiful setting sun on the distant sea. "Fortunately, that last piece is out of his hand at the moment. We can have agents in New Parm and combing the Misty Forest in search of him in case he returns."

"You yourself suggested that he was headed for the End of the World. If that is the case, then you must go there as well and intercept him," Duminas ordered.

"I will do that, Director, but there is another matter that I must attend to at the Dom Ruins," Catalina replied, "I need to confirm my theory with certainty regarding Justin's motives. I recommend that agents be sent to the Surt Ruins to do the same."

Duminas hummed. "Very well, but make your business at the Dom Ruins quick. Every moment you waste is another that the boy and his party use to slip from our reach and closer to Baal's."

"Of course, Director," Catalina said, "It shouldn't take me long. The Dom Ruins were exactly what the Ranger equipment was made for."

She glanced at him again, before looking away once more. "With that said, Director… could we end the call so you can um… sit down and resume your bath?"

"Oh?" Director Duminas asked before he realized that he was standing up in his bath, which was mercifully filled with enough bubbles to not completely embarrass him. "Oh! Quite right, my dear, you do your ardent best now! The Foundation, nay the world hinges on your work!"

"Yes, Director," Catalina said before the call ended and the projector shut down.

"That was more of the Director than I ever wanted to see," Hector said.

"I think he was enjoying it," Imogen suggested.

Catalina dropped into her seat, hands over her face. "Oh, I hope not."

"You're really going into the ruins, though? I mean, using the All-Ranger equipment is cool and all but… you're a bureaucrat, not an adventurer," Hector said.

"Even with it, going by yourself is a recipe for disaster. You do remember how many soldiers were lost in the Dom Ruins during the first excavation, right?" Imogen added.

"Seventy-three to all causes, but mostly Orcs," Catalina replied like it was a history class in elementary school.

"Still, it could not hurt for someone to go with you, hmm…?" Hector leaned out of his seat as he pointed to himself.

Catalina stared at him. "No."

The boy nearly fell out of his seat, but recovered. "Aw!"

" _Bivrost_ can't fly herself, as dangerously automated as this ship already is. I'd like for both of her pilots to be alive and available to make sure we don't have to improvise."

Hector pouted and surrendered. "Man, and I wanted to try some cool moves down there."

"Next time, bro," Imogen reassured him.

Catalina hummed. "You are right though… I think I can make something work. What's our ETA?"

"22:45 Hours," Imogen replied.

Catalina got up from her seat. "Plenty of time to make it work. Call me if anything comes up and get the Ranger Equipment ready."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Imogen sang.

…

Location: _Bivrost_ Brig  
Time: 19:50 Hours Local

Gontz hadn't slept for very long. The Snooze Spell was a very basic one, and even weaker when used in scroll form, however he had slept long enough to allow Catalina to divest him of his armor and weapons, leaving him in only his shirt and boxers. He quickly sat up and looked around the large jail cell he'd been locked in.

Steel walls surrounded him, but the floor was surprisingly carpeted and warm. His cell door was made of wrought iron bars, and just outside them a woman in a much simpler version of the his Garlyle rank and file uniform–but a dark blue like Catalina's three piece suit.

He could hear the familiar hum of the _Grandeur's_ Icarian Engine, but this definitely wasn't the _Grandeur._ He got up and walked towards the cell doors and the woman standing guard. "Excuse me, ma'am? Can you tell me in the blazes I'm doing here in this brig? This is the _Bivrost,_ right?"

The woman didn't answer, or show any hint of even hearing him. Gontz walked right up to the bars. "Excuse me, ma'am? I'm a little scared and confused about what this is all about. Why was I taken here? Where's Catalina?"

He reached through the bars, intending to tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me, ma'a–YEOW!"

When his fingers touched her shoulder, a searing heat forced him to yank his hand back before it got badly burned. He stepped back from the woman, wide-eyed. "W-what?!"

His wide-eyes grew even larger, as the "woman" turned her head to the tune of actuators and motors running in her neck. Her head, topped off with brown hair and a Garlyle Helmet, turned a full one hundred eighty degrees, revealing a blank face void of features except for two solid white oval shaped eyes that flashed green, and then red as "she" spoke with an harsh electronic staccato, with a rising inflection.

"YOU WILL RE-FRAIN FROM TOUCH-ING."

Gontz screamed and scrambled back to the far side of the wall, and kept screaming even after the automaton turned her head the other one hundred eighty degrees back to facing forward.

He kept screaming for a full thirty seconds before Catalina showed up. "Stand down, return to your post, Gwyn."

"I O-BEY," the automaton responded before marching stiffly away, her heavy body clanking the whole way.

Catalina watched the Automaton leave, and shook her head, before looking to Gontz. "Hey there, Gontz, sorry about before."

Gontz was still screaming.

"You can stop now," she said.

Gontz stopped. "Wha… what was that?!"

"A Joule Foundation exclusive," Catalina replied, "Something to make work here on the _Bivrost_ easier for its small crew."

Gontz sputtered. "That thing it was… wha…"

"It's more Angelou technology, though not nearly as elegant as the original. Those could actually operate on an internal power source… and didn't overheat like crazy," she said as she unlocked the cell, "Automatons they're called. I call 'em Gwyn tho, that's what their creator insisted."

Gontz calmed down. "So that thing wasn't going to kill me?"

"Maybe if it fell over on you, they're harmless. Not good for much other than manual labor and getting in the way, but I digress," Catalina said, "I need your help."

"What? You assaulted me and kidnapped me from my base!" Gontz immediately protested.

"I didn't kidnap you, I rescued and sort of recruited you," Catalina replied.

"How is using a Snooze Scroll on me and dragging me onto your ship against my will either of those and not kidnapping?!" Gontz argued.

"Because the Garlyle have betrayed the Joule Foundation," Catalina said.

Gontz couldn't believe it. "That's bogus! The Garlyle are loyal to the Foundation!"

"Whoa, watch your language!" Catalina snapped at him.

"I'm sorry!" Gontz said, before he stopped. "Wait, no! You kidnapped me and you're trying to convince me my comrades are the bad guys! That's the height of bogus!"

"Not your comrades specifically! I mean, please…" Catalina stopped, and tried a new approach. "How many Spirit Stone pieces does the Garlyle Forces need to complete the Spirit Stone?"

"One, that's why we were at the Surt Ruins," Gontz said.

"Well General Baal has been telling the rest of the Foundation that they still need three more pieces while having you close in on that last piece. Do you see the discrepancy here?"

There was no way Gontz couldn't. Still, he thought, there had to be a logical explanation for it that wasn't the Garlyle attempting to overthrow the Foundation. He couldn't quite think of one on the spot, though.

"This is over my head… it really is! I'm just a Private, I haven't even been out of bootcamp six months!" he exclaimed.

"Look, you can believe me or not, but now that you've been hanging around me long as you have there's no way you can go back to the Forces and not end up with a target on your back," she said, "I hope you're not that nice kid."

Gontz shook his head. He knew enough about the importance of secrecy and the dangers of knowing too much without authorization. Everyone from the Sergeants to General Baal himself would be taking aim at his back. "If that's the case, then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Here's an option. You'll work for me and the Internal Investigation Bureau. The pay is much better than a sergeant's and you'll get to wear a better outfit than that beige little number the Garlyle pretend is fashionable these day," she said before turned towards the cell door, "But the biggest benefit I can think of, is that you'll be able to help out Justin. He's got that last piece and the Garlyle are going to be gunning for him next time he pops up."

That took the wind out of Gontz's sails. _"Justin_ has it?"

"Yeah, that's what the Colonel and his Lieutenant were discussing when I overheard them. They called off the Luc Village Mission because they realized he had the stone, not the Humanoids."

Gontz gasped, knowing already what the military would do to Justin after everything that's happened so far. "Oh no…"

"Anyway, I have to track him down, and I'm getting started on it tonight. If you want to help him, then follow me out of this cell and we'll get started. If you'd rather stick in with the Garlyle stay in there and I'll drop you off in New Parm so you can decide for yourself what to do next. It's that simple."

Catalina didn't like indecisiveness, so she was rather relieved when Gontz got up and marched right out of the jail cell, his expression focused.

"I'll help you. It's the only way I'll find out what's really going on–and if Justin is in trouble I'm going to look after him," he said resolutely

Catalina smiled. "That's good enough for me. Now let's get you a new uniform."

She gestured for him to follow. "We still have a few hours before we touch down at the Dom Ruins. I want an idea of what I'm working with, before we set out."

Gontz nodded. "My instructors said I was pretty handy with a sword… and I actually know a little bit of magic."

Catalina hummed. "Is that a fact? No wonder you were in the Fae Squad."

Gontz shook his head. "Actually, I became an auxiliary member after I escorted Lieutenant Leen back to her quarters when she was drunk."

Catalina did a double take. "Really! That little thing got herself _drunk?"_

"Well, someone switched her drink with an alcoholic one during the graduation party for us recruits. She only drank half of it before she was sloshed…"

"I did not know that," Catalina said.

But boy howdy was she glad she did now.

…

Location: _Bivrost_ Stateroom  
Time: 22:52 Hours Local

After knowing nothing but a military uniform for months, Gontz felt a little strange staring at himself in the mirror. A young man in a tailed three-piece suit and a matching cloak/great coat combat stared back at him. Like Catalina's suit, it was blue in color, but unlike Catalina his suit came with a black tie.

He kept his Garlyle Forces helmet, though. Thanks to the buzz cut that was required, he felt he looked silly without it on. The boots too, they were just more comfortable… though the beige didn't really go with the suit. He'd have to black them later.

"Well, I guess this makes me a civilian again," he said aloud to no one, as he was alone in what were now his spacious and comfortably furnished quarters aboard the _Bivrost._

Better than a deserter or traitor, he thought to himself as he took his Garlyle Saber and tied it to his waist under his greatcoat, before buttoning it up.

Deep in his heart he hoped that this was just a big misunderstanding, and that things weren't nearly as alarming as Catalina believed. If they were, though, then the world was in terrible danger from people who had deceived everyone to make their move… people he had respected and been inspired by.

Even worse, if she was right then Justin and Sue were in big trouble and he couldn't let anything happen to a friend from his hometown.

The only way to find out was to go forward from where he was, and he wasn't a man who shied away from adversity. He joined the Garlyle to support his mother and little brothers after all, even with all the danger that came with it.

With a deep breath to shore up his resolve, Gontz nodded to his reflection in the full length mirror, and then left to the main passage of the _Bivrost._ Outside Catalina was waiting in significantly different attire.

"Looking sharp, kid," she complimented.

Gontz blinked several times, as he looked at Catalina's new get up. She was wearing a gray sleeveless top, and a pair of blue baggy trousers with color-matched greaves and cuisses wrapped around her shins and thighs. Underneath the sleeveless top she was wearing a blue shirt so thin that it almost looked like her skin. It covered her arms and hands ending in fingerless gloves.

He looked down at himself and his suit and coat. "I feel a little overdressed now."

"You're fine," Catalina said with a chuckle as she gestured for him to follow her.

Gontz let out a sigh. "So what exactly is the plan?"

"Exactly what I've discussed before. We're going to perform a full-scale investigation of the ruins, try to find what Justin and his friends found, which means going as far and deep into the ruins as we can," Catalina said, "It might get a little dangerous but that's why I'm going to be the one in front and you will be support."

"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" Gontz asked, "No offense but even with that armor…"

She didn't look like much of a fighter. In fact she looked like she was trying a little too hard.

"Trust me, I've done this before plenty of times. I might not look it, but I've done a bit of adventuring when I was a teenager."

"How long ago was that?" Gontz asked.

"Too long," Catalina half-joked.

Still, at least he didn't ask her outright her age. She'd have to pop him if he ever thought to be _that_ rude.

"We just need to pick up the last few pieces of my equipment and we'll be good to go."

They walked down the wide passage, passing more of those unsettling automatons performing their menial tasks silently and efficiently. Gontz averted his gaze from them, finding them unnerving to look at despite Catalina's assurances that they were harmless.

"How did you get used to them?" he asked.

"Well it helps that their inventor modeled them after me," Catalina said.

So she was easy to flatter, Gontz made a note of that.

"The truth is, they're just machines that do their jobs, like any other," Catalina said, "You learn to ignore them after only a day."

They reached the ship's armory, a large open room with glass-sealed cabinets storing various weapons. Knives, swords, maces, and axes decorated the wall–both standard Garlyle Issue and others appearing more exotic or primitive. On the far side of the ceiling-lit room, a pair of cabinets flanked a door decorated with various signage welcoming anyone to enter but to use caution.

In the center of the room, a tall glass cabinet stood, revealing the rest of Catalina's armor: a heavy-looking armored blue cuirass with a high collar that was split open at the chest, waiting to be worn, pauldrons and gauntlets. Mounted above them was a sloped helmet with a pair of lighter blue panels that sat on the sides of it over a pair of fin-like wings that swept up and back from the helmet.

Catalina began putting on the armor, first the chest armor, revealing it had a long heavy cape that split in two halfway down. With practiced ease she slipped on the pauldrons and gauntlets, before putting on the helmet and placing it on her head. She worked her arms and fingers through their range of motion, before she stepped back from the case with several heavy clanks. The bulky armor made her look almost twice her normal size, and she was already rather tall for a woman.

Gontz stared at her, impressed. "Wow, you look like a knight."

Though not like one of those great heroic wandering knights. If not for the blue coloring, she'd look like something more sinister… a dark knight that stalked the battlefield searching for a fight… any fight…

Catalina turned to him with a slight rustling of the metal, and smiled. "This is the Ranger equipment."

She looked towards the case. "It's built around the…"

She stared at the case. "… Around the…"

Gontz looked at the case. "Around the…?"

"Where's the All-Ranger?!" she exclaimed.

The door that welcomed anyone to come in opened, and another person stepped out from the dark room beyond it. Gontz and Catalina looked over at the sleepy looking person who walked out.

Catalina huffed. "Smalls, what's going on with the All-Ranger?"

Smalls, a short slender androgyne with curly brown hair and perpetually half-lidded brown eyes behind thick-rimmed glasses, walked over to the two, followed by a Gwyn Automaton carrying a long metal container. Smalls wore a pair of black slacks and a gray turtleneck sweater two-sizes too large, and no shoes or socks.

"I've been calibrating it, sorry," Smalls said softly.

Catalina sighed. "You're killin' me, Smalls. I'm about to go on a dangerous mission."

"I know, I know, the All-Ranger is ready to go," Smalls said, before looking to Gontz. "Oh, hello. I'm Smalls, I make things around here."

Gontz gaped at Smalls. "… Uh… hello?"

He wondered if Smalls was eating well.

"Imogen said we had a new crewmember, it's nice to meet you," Smalls smiled kindly to Gontz, "I'm Smalls. I keep _Bivrost_ and her crew running."

"Oh, I'm Gontz…"

Smalls turned back to Catalina. "Gwyn, show her the All-Ranger."

"I O-BEY," the Gwyn answered before standing the case, taller than her, and opening it. Inside the red-cushioned container was the All-Ranger.

It was a huge greatsword with a black crossguard and hilt and a massive blade. It was easily as tall as Catalina was and probably heavier. Gontz' eyes widened.

"I was trying something new with this; it's all lightweight construction but very strong," Smalls said, "The opening feature is now fifty percent faster, and strong enough to do it when you have it buried in a monster."

Catalina took the sword from its container, and despite its size managed to lift it with little difficulty. She then pressed a button on the hilt, and the blade split down the middle, revealing the barrel of a cannon that ran down the length of the blade to the hilt, which was obviously part of the chamber and firing mechanism.

"Wow!" he said in amazement.

He'd seen guns on the Kite Fighters and tanks, and of course the _Grandeur,_ but he'd never seen a handheld gun in person before, much less a gun inside of a sword! "How'd you make this?"

Smalls grinned. "It was rather easy, really."

Catalina was just as impressed as she held it up. "This is fantastic!"

"Thank you," Smalls replied.

"Excuse me, uh… Is it okay for me use any of these?" Gontz asked, indicating the other weapons.

Smalls gave a quiet, quick laugh. "You can take what you like, but if you have a Mark IV Saber then you have the second best blade on the ship. All these others are mostly prizes and mission specific."

Smalls then had an idea and gestured to the sword Catalina took from the case. "If you like, I can craft you an All-Ranger, if you think you can handle it."

Gontz looked at the sword. "It's a little big for me…"

Smalls giggled, and Gontz recoiled when he realized what he'd just missed. "A-ah, wait…!"

"Well I'm going to get back to work okay? Catalina, keep the new guy alive, I want to get to know him," Smalls said while gesturing for the Gwyn to return to the room.

"That won't be hard," Catalina assured.

Smalls nodded and then waved to Gontz. "Good luck out there, Gontz."

When Smalls went followed the Gwyn out, Catalina smiled when she saw that Gontz's face was considerably flushed. "Yeah, Smalls has that effect on people."

Gontz swallowed. "Smalls, uh… is he…?"

Catalina hummed. "Mm? Is Smalls what?"

"Is he eating enough? He's awfully skinny…" Gontz asked, genuinely concerned.

Catalina's expression flickered from concern to surprise, before she broke into a small laugh and patted him on the back. "Smalls eats plenty, don't worry."

"I don't know, if my Mom ever met him, she'd flip out and turn the kitchen into a factory trying to put some meat on his bones."

"That'd be a fight she couldn't win, trust me," Catalina said as she attached the All-Ranger to her back, "If you're ready, we can head into the Ruins now."

Gontz nodded. "Let's get moving then."

…

Location: Dom Ruins Vestibule  
Time: 23:10 Local Time

"We're coming down over the Dom Ruins now," Hector reported over the loudspeaker to Catalina and Gontz, who waited in the ship's airlock, "It's pitch dark out so we're taking the approach slow."

"Landing lights are coming on to illuminate the landing zone," Imogen announced.

Flying at just over treetop height at very low speed, the _Bivrost_ approached the sandy clearing that led to a massive mist-shrouded stone gray complex covered in dense vines. On its ventral hull and wings, high power lamps came on, bathing the vestibule of the ruins in brilliant light.

Imogen looked closed circuit televisions showing the landing zone. "Huh, the vestibule is supposed to be clear of plants right? There are a lot of trees down there now."

Catalina looked out the porthole window of the Dom Ruins' front yard, and saw that the tan, sandy ground was covered in trees. She immediately frowned.

"Bring us over to the roof, guys, and we'll dismount there," she ordered.

"Aye, aye, sir," Imogen said as the massive _Bivrost_ swung herself slowly around and came to a hover over the nearest building of the complex, "We're in position, you're clear to drop."

The air lock's external doors opened, and both Catalina and Gontz leaped out and fell the short distance to land on the roof. As soon as they set foot, the _Bivrost_ lifted off and ascended higher above the ruins, to illuminate them from above.

Over the howl of the engines, Catalina called to Gontz. "Are you okay?"

"Yes!" he called back, "Why didn't you jump out front?!"

"Come on!" Catalina called, before she went to the edge of the roof facing the ruins' vestibule.

Gontz followed her, and then gave a start. Standing in the vestibule were dozens of bipedal tree monsters with two heads, branches that extended into grasping, shearing claws, and bright green leaves adorned with red fruit.

"Ents, and there are so many!" Gontz cried out.

"Yeah, we're not dealing with those," Catalina said as the _Bivrost_ retreated to a safe distance for them to talk at normal volume, while still providing bright lights onto the ruins.

Gontz nodded in agreement, and the two headed towards the direction of the rest of the ruins.

The Dom Ruins were a complex of four extremely large buildings that straddled a wide and deep, mist-filled chasm. The Garlyle's excavation of the ruins, several years ago, discovered that the ruins were a deep and winding maze filled with deadly traps, blood-sucking bats, ghosts, and Orcs. Even though the piece of the Spirit Stone hidden there had been found, the price was a grievous one with many casualties.

In Gontz's opinion, the fact that the ruins were orc-infested was the only point of doubt he had about Catalina's theory that Justin had been through here.

Catalina and Gontz crossed over one of the many arches that connected the buildings, passing over passages choked with ents. Gontz peered down at them, and trembled.

At the entrance, numerous trees, stones, and crude furniture had been thrown together as a large barricade. Behind the barricade, which led to the ruins, were numerous orcs–hunched, red skinned, gargoyle-headed dressed in simple spiked plate armor armed with axes, maces, and the occasional short sword. The ents were clawing and tearing at the barricades, ineffectual, while the orcs were reinforcing the barricades and roaring what sounded like insults in their bestial language at the ents.

"I've never seen so many!" Gantz gasped.

"Neither have I," Catalina agreed, "Something must've happened to have Ents acting aggressively like this… or someone."

They kept walking, completely bypassing the confrontation of screaming monsters and crossing the roof of the first half of the ruins. It didn't take them long to reach the other side and the deep abyss that split the ruins. The walls were adorned with large expressionless stone faces, just like in the passages that ran along the passages between the buildings. Above some of the faces, entrances into the other side of the ruins were easy to see, and some even extended into walkways shattered by the ravages of time.

One such path remained intact, two such faces were on the ends of paths that met halfway from their respective sides, effectively creating a bridge across the chasm. Though it was still a considerable drop to it, and four orcs patrolled the bridge, two at each end, which sported torches to illuminate its edges.

Catalina looked back to Gontz, and nodded. Gontz returned the nod, and drew his Garlyle saber. Readying the All-Ranger, Catalina ran to the edge and jumped, traveling in a small arc down onto the two orcs closest to their side.

She swung down her sword, slashing one of the orcs across the chest.

The second orc, turning to face her, growled in surprise, before rays of blue light struck the ground around its feet, creating a circle of ice that launched long spears of solid ice upward, slashing across its body.

Taking advantage, Catalina turned in a full circle, building momentum for a swing that shattered the ice and sent the orc off the bridge and falling into the abyss below.

Gontz landed on the bridge and winced from the landing. He shook off his frost-covered hand, cold from casting the Crackle spell. "Oof!"

"You okay?" Catalina asked as the first orc raised and swung its axe down on her. She blocked the strike with the All-Ranger, before shoving the orc back and turning around to face him.

"I'm fine," Gontz called back before he pointed at the orc, rushing to attack her exposed back. "Behind you!"

The charging orc, snarling and spitting, raised its axe and leaped–right into the onrushing edge of the All-Ranger.

The bisected orc hadn't even touched the ground before Catalina reached the other two orcs, dragging the All-Ranger across the bridge, and leaving a trail of sparks.

Gontz stopped midcast, and stared in surprise at how fast Catalina moved. "W-whoa…"

The two orcs, seeing the armored woman rushing them, answered her charge. The first orc, swinging its mace down on her, lost its weapon to the All-Ranger, before Catalina grabbed it by the back of its head and crashed her helmet into its forehead, the force of her headbutt laying it out.

As the second orc swung its sword at her side, and the blade glanced uselessly off her armor as she turned away into a spinning strike that knocked the orc off the bridge.

After watching the orc fall into the mists below, Catalina held the sword straight up and then dropped it right back into place onto her back. "Good grief, is it over already?"

Gontz looked back towards the direction they came from. "It might not be."

A fifth orc was just inside the archway leading back inside the ruins, and quickly spotted both investigators. It was about to open its mouth to roar, when Catalina quickly drew a long-bladed throwing knife and tossed it into the Orc's open mouth.

"Eugh!" Gontz looked away, as the Orc fell dead.

Catalina lowered her hand. "Well, that's done."

Gontz looked over to her. "You uh… are really good at this."

"I told you, I've been doing this for years."

Gontz shook his head and smiled, as he joined her in walking into the ruins.

…

Location: _Bivrost_ Bridge  
Time: 23:22 Hours Local

"Well, they've gone in," Hector said as he kept _Bivrost_ in position, "I wish I could go…"

"Yes, Catalina would love to have someone who runs from slimes to have her back in a fight," Imogen lightly teased.

Hector took offense. "That slime was huge! Catalina would've run from it too!"

He took his hands from the side-stick controls at his console and folded his arms. "Besides, I didn't have any weapons on me, how was I supposed to fight it?"

A Gwyn strode over to the helm with a tray of sandwiches and juice. Imogen smiled when the Gwyn offered her its plate, and graciously took a few sandwiches and a bottle of juice.

"You could've cried on it, slimes don't like salt."

As Hector made a face at her, she took a large bite out of the sandwich, and the crunch of breaded fish fillet and the spicy kick pickled pepper relish jolted her taste buds.

"Mm! So good!" Imogen said, before she asked her brother, "What do you suppose that Justin saw while he was down there?"

Hector took his own sandwich. "Who knows, maybe he saw the spirits?"

Imogen seemed surprised that Hector would suggest that. _"You_ think he might have seen the spirits?"

"Maybe he thinks he can see the spirits or something? I don't know," he replied, "A lot of people who are obsessed with Angelou think that they can see the spirits, even back at home."

Imogen was immediately taken by the idea. "Oh, that sounds romantic! Imagine it, being able to see the spirits and hear them. I wonder what they would have to say…"

"Probably yell at us for messing with their ruins," Hector suggested.

Imogen took another bite out of her sandwich, and quickly scanned her console. "I suppose they wouldn't be happy about that."

She then heard a beep to her side, and then another. Turning her head, she looked over at a screen to her right, showing a green grid with a single dot in the center of it. From this central dot, a pulse of light spread out, all the way to the edge of the screen. As the pulse reached close to the edge of the screen, it illuminated a second dot that had been fading away.

"Contact," she said to Hector.

Hector looked over. "Get a fix on it."

"Roger." Imogen turned to the screen and the keyboard beneath it, and began rapidly typing commands.

A reticule appeared around the dot, and from it sprang a smaller window on the screen, showing a quick database of large aerial objects, first large birds, then the large and deadly Rock Birds made of stone that lurked about the End of the World, then to the sleek, canard-winged Kite fighter, before stopping on a rectangular-winged plane driven by two pusher propellers at its wingtips.

"It's a Bomb Kite, range 95 miles. It's cruising at 33,000 FAMSL, bearing 307, heading 074, speed 210 knots. Looks like it's patrolling for us over the Misty Forest."

Hector snorted. "I didn't think Bomb Kites could get up that high."

Imogen didn't neither, the Bomb Kite of the Garlyle Forces was a Medium-class bomber. Good for terrorizing humanoids by bombing their villages in massed raids, but were so painfully slow and underpowered that they could barely make it above ten-thousand feet without shedding any excess weight–including bombs and extra crew members.

That one could fly so high and so fast was a surprise to Imogen, almost enough to leave her wondering if the radar system of the Bivrost was acting up.

"They shouldn't be able to," she said.

"Keep an eye on it then, maybe we'll learn a little more about what the Garlyle are up to behind our backs."

…

Location: Dom Ruins Interior  
Time: 00:20 Hours Local

 _Orcs are a rare race of humanoid monster that–since the fall of Angelou–have struck fear into the hearts of humans. Hating humans and happily inclined to violence, they waged war on the post-fall survivors with every intention to wipe them out now that they were without the protections of the spirits or Icarians._

 _For centuries as humans struggled to recover, their wars with the orcs (and other monsters) was what brought them together and unified them. The Joule Foundation's founding over a hundred years prior spelled the end of these wars. Organized under the banner that would become the Garlyle Forces, humans purged the monsters from the Continent of Messina so thoroughly that when they were finished, the greatest threat to any travelers around the towns from that point were insects._

 _Orcs vanished from their ranges on the old continent, forced into dark caves and deep valleys where humans cared not to go, but their legacy of terror was not easily forgotten. When the New World was discovered, the red-skinned orcs that dominated the land were targeted and wiped out–leaving only a relict population in the vast complex of ruins they became synonymous with._

 _To this day, I wonder if the orcs gathered to those old ruins on purpose because they knew what sort of secrets were hidden there, and were desperate to ensure that humans never got ahold of that power again…_

…

Jaws gnashing, an orc attempted to bite Gontz's face off as he held the monster's axe off with his saber. He tilted his head to one side, avoiding the bite, and then tilted the other way, its teeth snapping tight just inches from his cheek. He leaned back when it tried to go straight in–and Catalina's armored arm collided with its neck in a lariat she used to drag the orc back before slamming into the vine covered, yellow-painted floor of one of the large circular rooms that broke up the monotony of long sloping passages. This room in particular appeared to be an elevator, given the control lever that waited for them to the side.

Panting, Gontz didn't hesitate, leaping onto the orc and clubbing it repeatedly in the face with his saber until it stopped moving. When it was dead, he got up and searched its body, finding only a few gold coins.

"There aren't as many of these as there was during the last expedition," he said.

"Lucky us, huh?" Catalina asked.

Gontz shook his head. "Justin and Sue… they were definitely here."

It kind of scared him. How strong had they become?

Catalina walked over and activated the elevator, beginning a short descent one level to reveal a single doorway–from which a foul smell radiated out, hitting both Catalina and Gontz in the nose as hard as any orc could.

"Ugh! W-what's that smell?!" he yelped as he covered his nose.

Catalina grimaced. "The stench of rot…"

They walked through the door and came upon the source of the stench: a large dead creature bigger than a Garlyle tank lay in the middle of a long room lined with large pillars–unlike any other room they'd seen so far in the ruins. It was monstrous in every sense, having a spike-covered shell of a turtle, and two muscular forearms as big around as Gontz. It had no hind legs, instead having numerous spikes that jutted from its carapace like centipede's legs, and from its body extended a long tail that ended in a spiked club.

The monster had been beheaded, badly burned, its softer parts had throwing knives embedded in them, and large impalement wounds existed up and down its body going through even its tough looking shell.

Gontz whistled. "I owe Justin a beer."

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Catalina teased as she walked over to the dead monster, and pulled a knife from it. She knew that New Parm's greatest adventurer was an avid knife-fighter.

"The smell, the Ents must be drawn to this," she surmised. Ents, despite being plant monsters, were almost unerringly sensitive to smells in the air. "And all the other dead monsters that are all over this place are like an all-you-can eat buffet."

She tossed the knife to herself and put it away, as her bad eye began to water. Gontz's magic use had been irritating it slightly the entire way down, but he'd run out of energy to cast magic over fifteen minutes ago.

"Hff… there's something in the air here…" she said aloud.

Gontz still had his nose pinched. "No kidding?!"

"No… there's something magic here," Catalina clarified as she pointed past the monster's body and through another doorway. "In there."

There was a new feeling that came with her watering, stinging eye, a sensation that unnerved her even more than her allergy to magic: Catalina felt like she was being watched, like someone or something in the room had just noticed her and was eyeing her pointedly.

The fact that the walls were painted with eye motifs only made that paranoia worse.

Gontz looked around behind them, back towards the door they'd entered, and then back to Catalina. "There's nowhere else to go but forward."

Catalina nodded in agreement, before walking forward and through the door. Beyond the doors, was a wide, darkened circular room, with steps leading down towards a depression in the middle. It looked akin a theater, but at its center was a single empty pedestal she and Gontz could barely make out in the low light.

Raising her hand up, she covered her eye as she stepped further into the darkness. It appeared there were no other doors, no sign of disturbance, and definitely no sign of any treasure. Just an empty pedestal and the two of them.

Gontz stepped forward. "There's nothing here."

"No," Catalina murmured.

Gontz turned around to face her. "Is your eye okay?"

"No," Catalina replied. It just hurt now, a burning that she couldn't shrug off like she used to.

"There's something here," she revealed, "Something watching us…"

Gontz reached for his saber, anticipating something going wrong. "An enemy?"

Catalina tightened her palm against her face. "I don't know…"

A tense silence fell after, broken by the rustling of Catalina's armor and Gontz's greatcoat, as they looked around the room. As their eyes adjusted to the room, they could see there was no other presence at all in the room. They were the only ones there.

"Welcome."

And then they were not.

A bright light from the podium illuminated the room blindingly for an instant… before receding to a reveal the glowing projection of a beautiful woman dressed in a purple body stocking, and sheer purple and gold robe. On her head, she wore an ornate red and purple cap, with a long gold tassel that extended from its center, and in her hand she carried a long staff with a fan-shaped end that contained a single blue-green jewel in its center and two small tassels on its side.

Gontz's mouth fell open, partly at the activation of the pedestal, but just as much at the beauty of the woman who hovered before them, staring intently at them.

Catalina's expression darkened. There was so much going on. So much magic, so much power… her eye had gone from hurting to outright throbbing. She could feel a pressure, like her eye was going to pop out of her socket… or explode within it.

"What is this…?" Gontz asked, unable to believe what he was seeing. "This old technology actually works?!"

"Once opened, the door to Angelou cannot be closed," the woman replied to Gontz, "No more than a raindrop cannot stop its fall from the clouds to the ground."

Gontz gasped. "She… she spoke to me…"

He looked to Catalina. "Did you hear…?!"

He immediately stopped, when he saw the pain Catalina appeared to be in.

"Who are you," she asked in a tense voice, _"What_ are you?"

"I am Liete of Alent, I have lived through and inherited the history of Angelou," she replied.

Catalina's uncovered eye grew wide. _"What?!"_

In the ancient myths, there was mention of a place called Alent. A city that floated in the sky, far higher than even humanity's best technology could reach. Such a thing, however, had long been dismissed as myth–an impossibility even with the miracle of the Spirit Stone.

"Come, tell me, what were you seeking when you came here?" Liete asked.

Gontz was the one who answered, "My friends, Justin and Sue. They left their home to go on an adventure, and it's brought them here and into a lot of trouble. There are powerful, dangerous people after them now… and I want to make sure they're safe."

"Justin, he who holds the Spirit Stone," Liete replied, "seeks many answers. To find them, he has embarked on a long journey to Alent, where I await him."

"Alent is real…" Catalina murmured… "… The vast library of the entire Angelou Civilization. Its history, its technology… every answer is there…"

Gontz shook his head. "Of course, as impulsive and crazy as he is, why _wouldn't_ he do that."

Catalina called to Liete. "The Spirit Stone he carries, it is being sought after by people who wish to use its power and usher in a new era like the Angelou Civilization. This journey east… it's bringing him and the Stone closer to those people."

Liete nodded, acknowledging this fact. "Yes, the Spirit Stone is more intact than it has been since the Icarians shattered it a millennia ago. There is one who is collecting the Spirit Stone in order to revive Gaia, and Justin's journey brings it ever closer to completion."

"Gaia?" Catalina asked. "… What in the world is Gaia?"

Liete grew somber, her expression reflecting the weight of her next words. "Gaia is… the Destroyer of Angelou."

Catalina frowned, and lowered her hand from her eye. "Gaia is a weapon of some kind, then? I don't understand… if it's so dangerous then why have Justin bring the Spirit Stone to where the rest of the Spirit Stone is?!"

"As long as the spirit stone is not complete, then Gaia cannot awaken," Liete said as her gaze focused on Catalina's bad eye.

In that same instant Catalina understood. "… I see. Then I'm going to find Justin, and bring him to Alent."

Gontz looked to Catalina. "You know where it is?"

"No, but if we meet up with him, then we can protect him and get him there definitely before the Garlyle can get their hands on him," she said to him before speaking to Liete, "Then no one on the planet would be able to reach the last piece of the Spirit Stone, right?"

Liete smiled gratefully. "Yes. To reach Alent, you must continue east from here. Over the wall and across the lands and seas that lie beyond. Once there, the spirits will guide you to the final road to Alent."

Catalina nodded. "Good."

Gontz was relieved. "Thank you, Liete, for trusting us with this."

"Only those who carry the blessings of the spirits can open the door to Angelou," Liete said to Gontz.

She then looked back to Catalina, staring her in the eyes as she began to fade away. "Go to Justin; he and the Spirit Stone will be safe in your hands."

With a final flash of light, the room became dark and silent again, leaving Catalina and Gontz alone in it.

"We need to find them, as fast as we can," Gontz said.

"No kidding," Catalina said as she turned for the elevator and pulled out her radio.

As she walked past the dead monster, Gontz a pace behind her, she keyed the _Bivrost._ "Hector, Imogen, we got what we came for, meet us over the chasm for pickup. It shouldn't take us ten minutes."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Imogen responded.

…

Location: Dom Ruins Chasm  
Time: 00:40 Local Time

Without incident, Catalina and Gontz emerged onto the bridge connecting the two sections of the Dom Ruins. There wasn't a single monster in sight, and the mists had cleared enough to reveal a brightly shining moon in the sky–creating perfect conditions for the _Bivrost_ to come in slow and make a speedy extraction.

"How's your eye, Cat?" Gontz asked as they watched the distant form of the airship grow in the sky overhead.

Catalina looked over. "Cat? Please, no pet names."

Gontz was about to apologize, when he saw her smirk, and joined her in a hearty laugh.

"Now that we're out of there, my eye's done bothering me. It was worse than it'd ever been, though. I don't think I've ever been exposed to so much magic before."

Gontz nodded. "Why does it react to magic like that?"

"Don't worry about it, for now, we should focus on what's to come. The Misty Forest is going to be a pain to search, even from the air. Finding Luc Village will be a monumental effort itself, let alone your friends if they've already left for the End of the World."

Gontz silently agreed, but his small frown spoke volumes.

"We'll find them, don't fret too much."

"Too late. To be honest I'm a little shaken up about everything I've learned. It doesn't even seem real anymore. I mean, it was a big enough shock learning about our airships, and that we regularly travel across the End of the World. But… to know that everything we've given up so much for is for nothing more than a weapon?"

Catalina nodded. "I'm afraid to tell you this but you haven't even seen the half of it."

Gontz sighed. "I probably haven't, no."

With the _Bivrost_ closing in, slowing to a near hover to begin the extraction, Imogen kept her eye on the radar screen. The Kite Bomber that they'd spotted hadn't left her screen, judging by its flight pattern over the Misty Forest, it was likely still in search of them.

"Hey Catalina, we're about to lower a ladder, get ready," Hector radioed.

"Roger, we're waiting," Catalina replied.

As Imogen shook her head in amusement at their blind groping, another contact appeared approaching from their left. It was moving fast, much faster than the Kite Bomber… and it was extremely low to the ground. So low that it was actually _below_ surface level.

"That's not right…" Imogen then realized exactly what was happening and looked to her left out the port-side of the _Bivrost's_ bridge… at the chasm the ship straddled.

As the ladder came down, Catalina and Gontz both heard it over the sound of the ship's Icarian Engine and its vertical thrusters. The loud whine of a propeller going at max RPM, echoing off the walls of the chasm. When they both looked up the chasm, the very first thing they saw was a Garlyle Kite Fighter rise from the mists, followed by three more.

"The Garlyle?!" Catalina shouted in disbelief before the lead kite opened fire, its slow-firing but heavy cannon striking against the hull of the white ship.

As the lead Kite pulled up, the other three Kites followed in suit, their shots striking and exploding against or glancing off the sloped and streamlined armor of the ship.

"HOW DID THEY SNEAK UP ON US, IMO?!" Hector yelled at his twin sister.

"I don't know! I don't know!" Imogen shouted. "We should've been able to see them coming from miles away!"

She looked at the radar screen. "W-was I too distracted by that Kite Bomber?!"

No, that wasn't right. The Kite Bomber was the only contact she could see! But then how…?

"Gah, there's no time to worry about it!" Hector growled. "Catalina! Gontz! Get up here!"

Down below, both had grabbed the ladder and held on for dear life as it rapidly winched them up. During their ascent, Catalina looked over at the four fighters as they split off into two groups and began to broadly circle around.

"Those K-Kites!" Gontz shouted. "That's the Lightning Star Squad!"

Catalina blinked in surprise. "Wait, Sergeant Saki?!"

In the lead of the formation, her hand manipulating the throttle and flight stick of her Kite, Saki grinned broadly as she watched the ship pass by her. "Thunder Road Flight, listen up! Focus all fire on the port side of the ship, bring that eyesore down at all costs!"

"Understood!" the three other pilots answered.

The four Kites came back around, and dove for the _Bivrost_. Their cannons fired, the shells striking and exploding against the armor, leaving ugly black scorch marks against the hull. One shell hit close to the closing hatch that Catalina and Gontz had managed to scramble into, the explosion muffled by the now shut door.

"If this keeps up, we're done for!" Gontz cried out. "Kites have 3-inch guns! They pack as much firepower as a tank!"

Catalina got up, opened a hatch inside her armor, and yanked on a ripcord. In a split second, her armor, sword and all, came off her body and clattered to the floor.

"Yeah, I know," she said before she left for the bridge.

On the bridge, Hector grimaced as the ship shuddered from the hit. "Damage?!"

"Nothing vital to operation!" Imogen replied.

"We're getting out of here, then!"

Catalina came onto the bridge and stood over the two pilots. "How did they get the jump on us?"

"We can argue about that later!" Hector shouted.

"Terrain Masking," Smalls suddenly said, ending all need for speculation.

Catalina looked over to him, as Gontz finally caught up. "What?"

"A practice of avoiding detection by simply using the terrain to block the electronic waves generated by our sensors by flying very low and very fast. In theory, it would allow for a Kite to approach any radar-defended facility undetected and attack." Smalls hummed. "The risks are extremely high, however, you would need to be a very good pilot, that's why it's a theory and not a viable tactic."

As the ship shook again from more hits, Smalls nodded. "The fact that they were able to get the jump on us like this tells me that the Garlyle have been practicing in tactics to fight peer opponents, which is unnecessary."

"The only thing as well equipped as the Garlyle is the rest of the Joule Foundation," Catalina said as anger spiked upward.

Despite the hits, the _Bivrost_ ascended above the ruins and began to accelerate forward, the Icarian Engine generating enough thrust to push Hector and Imogen into their seats slightly and cause Catalina and Gontz to grab hold of something to keep standing.

Sweeping out to its right after making their pass, Saki let out a snort. "They're pulling away but they're trailing smoke!"

She looked upward. "Much as I hate to admit it, you were right!"

"Of course I'm right," Mio said from the cockpit of her own Kite, "The Joule Foundation's ever eager to get their hands on our technology, they hardly bother to explore its potential like we do!"

She looked to the three planes that trailed her. "Midnight Rambler, we will target the wings and engine of the enemy ship!"

Releasing the throttle of her Kite, she reached over and flipped a switch, and the droning hum that went on beneath her seat and behind her suddenly ceased, leaving only the sound of her engine. "Electronic Shadow Disabled!"

Onboard _Bivrost_ Imogen's eyes widened when she saw four more Kites suddenly pop up on radar, in perfect diving position.

"Hector! Four more enemies above us!" she yelled.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Hector yelled. "WERE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO THE SENSORS!?"

Imogen recoiled, and looked at the screen. "Th-they're coming from above and behind!"

"Which side, hurry you idiot!" Hector demanded.

Imogen flinched and watched the screen. "P-port side!"

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…!" Hector growled as he suddenly turned the ship into a left bank, straight into Saki's own attack.

Saki swore as her shells suddenly went outside as the large ship turned towards them. "Break! Break!"

The four Kites scattered, as the maneuver also defeated the shots from Mio's own flight of Kites.

Mio huffed in amusement. "Oh, you think that will save you?"

With deft movements of her controls, Mio brought her Kite into an extremely punishing turn that steepened and deepened until her Kite was literally flying sideways with its nose pointed at the belly of the turning _Bivrost._

"Buh-bye," she sang before she opened fire, raking the underside of the ship with her plane's cannons before the Kite finally stalled and dropped towards the ground.

"Gah, hit again!" Hector snapped as he righted the ship. He turned to yell at Imogen again, but this time Gontz grabbed his shoulder. "Hey!"

"Don't yell at her, she's doing her best," he said sternly, despite the desperate situation they were in.

Hector stopped and looked at Imogen, who was now looking at the sensors with a laser-accurate focus, keeping her eyes out for anything that she could possibly miss. Suddenly, he felt like a heel, but before he could voice that the ship shook again.

"Aw, bogus!" he yelped as he maneuvered the ship to avoid more of the fire. "I can't build speed to climb if I'm stuck turning like this!"

"Don't worry about climbing, then," Smalls suggested. "We don't need to go far, just make it out over the ocean."

Hector looked back at Smalls, then ahead. "We're actually doing it… I guess we have no choice, now."

Catching itself before it could crash, Mio recovered from the tumble and all but hovered in the ground before flipping another switch to her right. The exhausts of her Kite's engine suddenly belched out a bright blue flame, and Mio was thrown back into her seat as her Kite violently accelerated.

"Ohhhh, yes~! " Mio purred as she quickly caught up with then passed Saki's Kite like a rocket.

Saki was impressed. "Hey, whatever you did to you your Kite, you're doing to mine you egghead!"

"Admit I'm better at this than you and I will!" Mio said as she placed the crosshairs on the rapidly closing _Bivrost's_ Icarian Engine and opened fire.

"Starboard side, aiming for the engine!" Imogen reported.

Hector dipped the ship, the white-hot tracers from the shells passing above the right wing of the ship.

"She's correcting! Left side!".

Hector swerved _Bivrost_ in the other direction, the shot glancing off the ship's hull rather than hitting the Icarian Engine. A split second after that, Mio's Kite cut over the _Bivrost,_ the blue flames cutting off from the exhaust as she put her craft into a climb.

"Ocean's dead ahead!" Imogen said as Hector righted the ship.

"We'll have to get out a bit, to make sure it's safe," Smalls said.

Catalina gripped the back of Hector's seat tighter. "When we get back to Marna Fortress, we're getting this thing overhauled with some weapons…"

Hector dipped the ship again, and _Bivrost_ passed over the last trees and out to the long, rocky shore that separated them from the ocean. The maneuver helped throw the aim off the last of Thunder Road Flight's cannons, much to Saki's frustration.

"Mio, our ammo's dry… geez, how much punishment can that thing take?!"

"It's still a Grandeur-class," Mio noted. "Luckily, my squad remembered to pack armor piercers!"

"So did we!" Nana then radioed in.

Imogen looked at her radar screen, and grimaced. "Four more fighters, straight ahead. They're barely above the waves."

Indeed, just above the waves, four more Kites closed in head-on, first spread out abreast, but then sliding into an almost perfect straight line. Leading them, of course, was Nana. "Bloody Rose squad, Bloodborne Flight, target the bridge. Fire a burst and break off so the next in line can get a hit!"

"Yes ma'am!" the other pilots answered.

"They're gonna attack head-on!" Imogen gasped.

"Imo, focus!" Hector said in a much gentler tone than before. "We got this!"

Smalls leaned close. "Let them get a little closer, Hector…"

Hector nodded. "R-right…"

"Get 'em, Nana!" Saki said as she pulled to a higher altitude to watch the Kites close in on the _Bivrost._

"What will you do, civvies?" Mio said softly. "No matter where you go… we're going to execute you!"

"Throttle back," Smalls advised.

"Roger…"

Nana smiled as the ship slowed down, allowing her more time to let the bridge of the ship fill her sights. "I've got you!"

At the last possible second, before even Smalls could tell him to, Hector found the moment to move. "There!"

Just as Nana squeezed the trigger, the Bivrost pitched downward, its sharpened prow cutting into the water followed by the rest of the ship. It kicked up a great column of spray in its splashdown, one that forced Nana to pull up hard to avoid. "N-NO!"

The lead Kite cleared the column of water, but the three Kites behind her weren't as lucky, crashing straight into the wave one after another and going into the drink.

"It dove in?!" Saki yelled in disbelief and anger.

"… Unexpected!" Mio said. "Did they do it on purpose? Is the _Bivrost_ designed for that?"

She dipped her wing to stare down at the foaming sea. No sign of wreckage other than the three Kites, whose crews were now flailing about in the water to stay afloat.

"Something that not even _Grandeur_ and _Lyonlot_ can do… she really is an advanced ship…"

"That's bogus! They chose the coward's way out," Saki insisted. "Death before humiliation, I guess!"

"Don't just gawk there like idiots! We have to get my men out of there!" An embarrassed Nana yelled.

"Herr Mullen will not be happy to hear this…" Mio lamented, before ordering her men to descend and pick up the crashed pilots.

…

Location: 150 feet below sea level  
Time: 01:00 Hours Local

Gontz cracked open one eye, and looked around the dark bridge as he heard the low groan of the ocean pressing against the hull of the _Bivrost._ The impact had knocked him onto the floor and someone was lying on top of him.

"Is… is everyone okay?" he asked as he reached up to push off the body atop him.

He immediately felt something soft and warm under his hand. It surprised him, and he gave a more investigative squeeze. "Huh…?"

It was at that moment that the lights on the bridge kicked back on, revealing that he was groping a momentarily stunned Catalina's chest–just as she was coming out of said daze.

"Huh-HEY!" she yelped before Gontz could yank back his hand.

She pulled back from him, as Gontz reflexively raised his arms to block a hit. He stopped when he realized she wasn't about to clobber him. "Ah… s-sorry?"

Catalina just kind of gawked at him, before she relaxed. "D-Don't worry about it, soldier boy."

She picked up his helmet and handed it to him, a small flush on her cheeks. "This conked me on the head when we ditched. Keep your chin-strap on, okay?"

Gontz gratefully took it and put it back on his head. He then looked over at Hector and Imogen, who were secure in their seats and panting for breath, and then looked to Smalls–who was still standing.

"We… we really did that…" he said as he got up.

" _Bivrost's_ design is extremely rugged, enough that she can even double as a submersible. She belongs in the air, though, so this sort of thing is only for emergencies," Smalls said.

"I-I see," Gontz said as he looked out the windows and saw only darkness.

Smalls then walked over and leaned over Hector. "Hector, I know we were in a bind, but taking it out on Imogen wasn't only unacceptable, but it did nothing to help our situation."

Hector looked down, and nodded. "I know, I know. I only meant-"

"Of course you did," Smalls said, "But be kinder to your dear sister. You'll work better together in the future."

Hector nodded again, before looking to Imogen. "I'm sorry, Imo."

Imogen looked over and brightened. "It's okay, Hector."

Catalina slowly got up. Bringing a hand to her face, over her bad eye, she slowly shook her head. "This is unacceptable. The entire Garlyle Forces could be rogue, including the Jezebel Division."

"That wouldn't be good," Smalls said, "So what is the plan?"

"Before sunrise we'll surface and take to the air again. We'll contact Director Duminas and tell him of the situation, then resume the search for Justin and his friends. When we pick them up, we go back to Marna Fortress, have _Bivrost_ overhauled to fight, and then go from there to Alent."

Smalls nodded. "Simple."

"Simple is what I prefer," she said. "This will not happen again, and the Garlyle will not beat us to Justin or the Spirit Stone."

…

… _Even to this day, I cannot stand how wrong I was…_


	3. The Fist of the End of the World

Disclaimer: I really need to boost this story's update pace, the fandom for it is so small.

 _Let it be said that Colonel Mullen was a cunning and charismatic man, just like his father. Many of the Garlyle's moves throughout the later stages of Operation Yggdrasil could be attributed to his tactical skill and the unwavering loyalty and determination of his men. However, not even a man whose instincts alone could put the finest tacticians to shame was infallible. There will always be a circumstance that no one could predict._

 _The Battle of New Parm illustrated this perfectly._

 **Record of Yggdrasil  
** **File 3: The Fist Of The End of the World**

Location: 1,000 feet above the East Misty Forest  
Time: 04:10 Hours

The last of the Mullen Division's remaining Kites that sortied to find and shoot down the _Bivrost_ finally landed following the lengthy search and rescue detail and the long, slow flight back to the _Grandeur._ On the bridge of the ship, even as the Kite was lowered into the vessel's body, the Colonel and his Lieutenant were debriefing the three Sergeants Nana, Saki, and Mio despite the late hour.

"… Throughout the engagement, despite targeting the studied weaknesses of the _Grandeur_ -class with both High Explosive and Armor Piercing rounds, we were unable to effectively damage the _Bivrost_ with the Kite's 3-inch cannons. Additionally, when a head-on pass on the bridge was attempted, the ship intentionally dove into the water to avoid destruction," Nana reported crisply and professionally.

Mullen nodded. "Intentionally?"

"Given the high degree of damage the ship absorbed, and the deliberateness of the maneuver," Saki continued, "It is not without reason to suspect that the _Bivrost_ has a fully submersible amphibious capability that the Garlyle were not made privy to during her construction."

"I see." Mullen was impressed. The old Masters still had some tricks up their sleeve.

"Preliminary findings from the engagement suggest that while effective against heavily armored ground targets, the 3-inch cannon is wholly ineffectual for aerial engagement due to its slow rate of fire and recoil making precise aiming of multiple shots on the same area difficult," Mio concluded. "This is the principle reason for our failure in this mission."

Saki then spoke up. "Though Sergeant Nana's refusal to fire until the very last moment contributed heavily."

A long, tense silence followed, as a wide-eyed Nana slowly turned an intense glare onto Saki.

Mio brought her hand up and adjusted her glasses. Yep, this was happening… right in front of the Colonel.

Leen couldn't believe that she had to be awake for this, but did not show it.

Thankfully, or maybe not, Mullen restored order. "My dear Sergeants."

Murderous intent vacated the room, as all three turned their affection-starved attention to their Colonel. "Yes, Colonel!"

"I want to first thank you for taking part in this difficult mission, and express relief that despite your losses none of your men were seriously hurt," he began. "The peaceful continuation of Operation Yggdrasil, outside of the hands of the Masters of the Foundation, rests upon our shoulders. If we cannot locate and capture or destroy the _Bivrost,_ we can expect at best resistance to our glorious cause… or at worst outright civil war."

The three Sergeants nodded in agreement.

"For that reason, we must ensure that our next move is a decisive one. As we speak, a contingency plan in the event of this operation's failure is being put into action. The Foundation's agents in New Parm have already been rounded up, and using their network we will lure the _Bivrost_ into a trap from which there is no escape," Mullen continued.

He then gestured to the three Sergeants. "And I want the three of you to be the ones to spring the trap."

All three young women felt elated. Despite their failure, the Colonel understood and had so much faith in them! This man, they'd follow him to the pits of Hell!

"I will oversee the operation from the air aboard the _Grandeur."_ Mullen then gestured to Leen. "Lieutenant Leen will command the operation from the ground."

Leen was already a pale young woman, so it was difficult to tell that she went stark blanche at the very idea of directly commanding the three young Sergeants (who were all in fact a year older than her). It wasn't an issue of if she could do it–she was perfectly competent in command–it's just that the three Sergeants hated her, and the feeling was more or less mutual.

Though she didn't try to put tacks in their boots, or sneezing powder in their food, or spread rumors to the men about their willingness to engage in… improper activities.

The Sergeants Saki, Nana, and Mio _**hated**_ the Lieutenant. Fortunately, they were disciplined enough to not actually go beyond more or less childish pranks to try to make her look bad to the Colonel.

Although switching her juice with something a little stronger at the last graduation ceremony for recruits cut it very, very close.

They also had enough discipline to follow her orders for an important mission like this. They wouldn't like it, and they would do everything they could to make the little upstart miserable, but they would perform their duty and succeed in the mission.

"Yes Colonel," all three said as one.

"Good," Mullen said. "I expect great things from all of you. Go get rest, and when you are fully rested we will go into detail the operation. You are all dismissed."

"Understood, Colonel!" all three again said together, before turning to march out.

As soon as they were out of the bridge, Saki threw up her hands. "We have to work under Leen?!"

Nana was still mad about Saki trying to throw her under the bus.

"Gee, you know what? Maybe I should just throw away all of my pride and dignity and accept a ride on the General's lap all the way to Lieutenant, too!"

Mio took a step away from Saki.

"Then maybe I wouldn't have to take orders from such a pale, uppity, fake-!"

Nana clocked Saki right upside her thick skull with a yo-yo.

Saki staggered, and then whirled on her… associate. "DID YOU JUST-!"

"That was for throwing me under the train right in front of the Colonel, SakI! What the heck?!"

Saki got up in Nana's face. "Oh, after trying to bury both me and Mio when that old hag came by?!"

"It didn't matter, we were gonna kill her anyway!" Nana yelled back, getting right back in Saki's face.

"We were, until you screwed up what should've been a textbook head-on pass!"

Mio looked from Saki back to Nana.

"Says the muscle-brained idiot who didn't bother to load Armor Piercers on her Kite!"

From Nana to Saki.

"You uptight priss!"

Back to Nana.

"Uncute tomboy!"

Then to Saki.

"Sadist!"

And to Nana again.

"Masochist!"

Having heard enough of their bickering, Mio pulled out from under her white cape a pair of stun guns and shocked them both with a relatively mild jolt.

Both then turned on her. "WHAT IN THE HECK, MIO?!"

"Remember, girls. We aren't the enemy here, the Lieutenant is, but more importantly that 'old hag' is the big threat. Let's call it a night so we can focus on knocking them both down a few pegs, okay?"

Both Saki and Nana reeled it in, and pouted.

"Fine," the fiery redhead acquiesced.

"Yes, whatever," the violet-haired sadist conceded.

Back on the bridge, Leen looked up at Mullen. "Colonel, if I may speak freely?"

Mullen turned to Leen. "You needn't ask for permission, Lieutenant."

Leen tilted her head slightly in a nod. "Why on Earth are you trusting them to do this mission? More importantly… why are you trusting me to keep them under control?"

"They are volatile, yes, but they are also extremely driven and intelligent when they are focused on their mission. More importantly, of all the soldiers in Garalyle they are individually the strongest soldiers we have outside of you and the General, and when they work together… they can give me a run for my money." Mullen explained.

Leen lowered her gaze. "I'm not very sure I can handle them if I work this closely with them."

"I have faith in you, just like I do them," Mullen said to her, before he brightened a bit. "Besides, when you know the details of the mission I think you'll find it… fun."

Leen looked back up at her superior and cocked her head slightly. "Fun, Colonel?"

…

Location: _Bivrost_ Stateroom  
Time: 11:30 Hours

The creaking and groaning that Gontz had fallen asleep to had been replaced by the more soothing drone of the _Bivrost's_ Icarian Engine turning in the open air again. Slowly, he sat up and stretched his hands above his head–having difficulty remembering when he last slept so well. He honestly didn't even remember falling into bed.

"Too much late to bed, early to rise in the Garlyle," he muttered to himself as he flopped back down on the very large bed–meant for the VIPs who nominally used _Bivrost–_ and looked towards the oval-shaped porthole that showed a brilliant sight. Half the sky outside was blue, but the rest of it was pitch dark.

He sat up again, before crawling across the bed and setting his feet down on the carpeted floor. Reaching the window, he went wide-eyed at the sight of the world so far below that he could see its curvature at the horizon.

"Wha… huh?" He couldn't believe how high they were! Even the End of the World looked tiny from their vantage point!

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

On the bridge, Smalls hummed while looking at the gauges showing the performance of the ship's Icarian Engine. Several Gwyn had taken up stations that were normally vacant, silently whirring and clicking as they processed data.

"We are at FAMSL 67,000, Heading 000, speed 190 knots," Imogen reported proudly.

"Any higher and we'll stall out, there's just not enough air up here for lift," Hector said.

"So going up to Alent on our own is out of the question," Smalls said. "Well, that'll be a shame to explain to Catalina."

"Not it," Hector and Imogen said together.

Smalls sighed. "Well I guess I'll have to-"

Gontz barged in, super excited. "Holy crap, guys! The _Bivrost_ is so high up! How did it get up here!?"

Hector, Imogen, and Smalls all stared at Gontz, their eyes all but bugged out of their sockets.

Gontz was a bit too excited to register their stares. "Well?!"

"H-high altitude test…" Hector managed to sputter.

Smalls smiled. "Not it."

"Not it for what?" Gontz asked.

Smalls fingers came up to their lips, to barely suppress a giggle. "Go wake up Catalina and tell her that we won't be able to go to Alent in our current configuration, would you…" The scientist looked Gontz over and giggled again. "… Dear?"

Gontz shrugged his shoulders, not finding the order unreasonable. He turned and pointed towards a door labeled "Captain's Quarters". "There, right?"

Smalls, now blushing faintly, nodded. "Go ahead."

Hector looked over to Imogen, who was covering her own deeply blushing face. "Eyes forward."

Thinking nothing else of it, Gontz knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door slid open, revealing a tired-looking Catalina, her well-kept blonde hair wildly all over the place and sporting a feature Gontz didn't notice before–freckles peppered across the bridge of her nose and cheeks.

He then noticed that she was wearing a thin, loose tank top that hung haphazardly off one shoulder, and a pair of fancy panties that looked much like the ones he'd once seen a few fellow soldiers swipe from the Sergeants… and then pretended he didn't see when said Sergeants came down like the wrath of a dragon upon them.

"Uhh…" he kind of froze as Catalina stared at him, confused.

"So… what is it?" she asked groggily.

Gontz quickly stood at attention, compelling himself to focus on her freckles, which were surprisingly cute. "Um… Smalls told me to tell you that the _Bivrost_ can't go to Alent in its current configuration, mamm–sir.

Catalina nodded. "Guess then we really will have to go back to Marna Fortress. Thanks Gontz. I'll be awake and ready for the day in a little bit."

"Yes, sir," Gontz quickly replied.

Catalina went to close the door, and then stopped. "By the way, nice jock." She then closed the door.

It was then, that Gontz looked down and realized that he was indeed wearing nothing other than a jockstrap. Going from pale to a brilliant red, he whirled around with his hands over his exposed backside, and found both Smalls and Imogen averting their eyes while trying really hard not to burst into laughter.

"I… I'm… er…" Gontz bowed his head. "I'm going back to my quarters now."

"Food will be ready by the time you're ready," Smalls replied.

"G-Great…" Gontz said as he shuffled over to the door leading back. The second it opened, he vanished past it as fast as he could, backwards.

Imogen burst into girlish giggles and cupped her cheeks, as Hector glowered at her.

"So immature, Imo."

Smalls hand discreetly wiped away a bit of drool from the corner of their mouth. "Can you blame her? That was quite a sight"

"Oh don't you start, too!" Hector called at the scientist.

...

By the time Gontz returned to the bridge, Catalina was already up and back in her blue business suit. Her hair was neatly combed and dressed, and the makeup she wore made her freckles disappear completely. When she saw him, similarly suited up and wearing his helmet again, she gave him a smirk.

"Just in time for lunch and introductions," Catalina greeted. "Not as well-dressed, though."

Gontz tried not to turn red as a tomato, and managed to keep it to a salmon pink. "I'm s-sorry for that…"

"Relax, this isn't a military ship. Just don't go exposing yourself like that to the twins on purpose and we'll be solid." Catalina gestured for him to come over to the projector she stood beside. "I have some calls to make, and I want to introduce you to your new boss."

"That would be Master Duminas, right?" Gontz asked.

"Just call him Director Duminas, he's not exactly partial to his official title," Catalina replied.

Gontz hummed. That wasn't exactly like what he'd been told.

The projector activated, and the portly Director Duminas appeared, finely dressed seated behind his desk with his hands folded in front of him. "Catalina, my dear! And I presume that this is the young man you poached from the Garlyle?"

"Private Gontz, report… er…" Gontz stopped, when he realized that he wasn't a Private, anymore.

"Gontz, eh? You wouldn't be from North Parm, would you?"

Gontz stood a little straighter. "I am, sir."

Duminas laughed. "It's always good to see young men who got that idea of Adventuring and Swashbuckling out of their system for real work! You seem like a bright-eyed fellow, are you ready to do some hard work? Good work?"

"It's why I joined the Garlyle, sir!" Gontz replied.

"Good, good, that's what I want to hear, lad," Duminas said boisterously. "Listen here, the _Bivrost_ are a special crew–if that hasn't been made abundantly clear–and they need all the help that they can get. Especially in the strength department."

Catalina's right eyebrow lifted a bit above the other.

Gontz nodded. "Right."

"When you're out there on the field with Catalina, put that training of yours to good use! The Joule Foundation is counting on you to put an end to this nonsense, lad, the whole world is. Be strong, and take care of these ragamuffins!"

Gontz smiled to the Director's projection. He rather liked this old man. "I won't let any of you down!"

"Good lad!" Duminas turned to Catalina. "My dear, what is the update on your situation?"

"Well, we were intercepted and engaged by the Garlyle Forces during the night before we could get anywhere near the Dom Ruins. We took extremely light damage, but it's clear that the Garlyle are not only hostile but actively searching for us," Catalina reported.

Duminas closed his eyes and hummed. "That is no good."

"Not at all, Director. The Garlyle are in a position to close off the New World to us. That however, is not my primary concern."

"The Jezebel Division," Duminas said for her.

Catalina nodded. "Yes. The Jezebel Division is responsible for security of all of the Old Continent, including Marna Fortress. If they are in league with General Baal as well, any effort to move against them may lead to an armed insurrection with no way for the Masters to defend against it."

"Do not fear, my dear," Duminas reassured Catalina. "We're the Internal Investigation Branch, we have our tricks to keep things nice and quiet. Focus now on evading the Garlyle, and getting ahold of that Justin lad and his Spirit Stone. Soon as that's done, the sooner we'll have leverage against Garlyle's treasonous acts."

"That's the plan," Catalina said before saluting. "We'll keep you up to date on any developments, Director."

"Good girl, my dear. You continue to impress me!"

The transmission ended and Catalina sighed. "'My dear', 'my dear', 'my dear!' Urgh!"

Gontz let out a small laugh. "He acts like you're his daughter."

"He wishes I'd call him Daddy," Catalina groused as the door opened and Smalls entered the bridge, followed by two Gwyn carrying trays.

Smalls gestured to the automatons, which lifted the covers from their trays revealing a thick and meaty-looking stew with a few diced potatoes. "Lunch is served, everyone. Have you ever had food from the other side of the wall, Gontz?"

"Actually, no, I heard most of it was unfit for human consumption…"

Smalls beamed. "Well I hope you're ready for some expanded horizons, this is a stew recipe from the village of Laine. Spicy Rappijulian Laine Volvok Stew."

Gontz took a bowl, as did Catalina. "That's a mouthful," he said.

"So is the stew," Smalls replied while taking a bowl as well and sitting down in another seat.

Gontz sat down and took a bite. It was spicy, but not nearly as brutal as some of the cuisine back home.

Gontz nodded and looked down at his bowl. "So you've been to the other side of the wall?"

"We all have," Catalina answered. "Have you?"

Gontz shook his head. "No, not yet at least. There was a lot of talk that we were going to deploy over the wall, but then you guys showed up and here I am."

He ate another spoonful of the sweet and spicy stew. "What's it like?"

"Different, aside from the other Garlyle Soldiers, there are no humans on the other side of the wall, all the people there are humanoids."

Gontz knew of humanoids, they resembled humans but were wildly different, having long ears, horns, or entirely resembling animals like rabbits and frogs. He also knew, now at least, that there was one humanoid settlement on this side of the End of the World, but it was well hidden by the thick fog of the Misty Forest.

He looked down at the stew again, then back up at Smalls. "Then… where did you get this recipe?"

Smalls laughed. "From a Lainian, of course."

Gontz's expression slackened slightly. "In training, we're taught that in the event of confrontation with Humanoids, to avoid them on account of them being dangerous and primitive, like animals."

Catalina appeared to take offense to that. "Really? Outrageous."

Gontz hummed in query to Catalina.

"Operation Yggdrasil wouldn't be a thing if it weren't for a humanoid. Though, I certainly understand why no one would tell you regular rank and file about it."

"Really?!" Gontz asked, surprised.

"All the secrets of Angelou we've uncovered in the last twenty years come from the humanoids. To us, it's an incomprehensible myth with a dead, indecipherable language, otherwise," Catalina explained.

That just amazed Gontz. "Really? That's incredible… I had no idea…!"

"I can't blame you; no one has any idea about anything nowadays," Smalls reassured him. "I mean, before you first saw Tanks, Kites, or the _Grandeur,_ did you have any idea _those_ could exist?"

Gontz sat there, silent for a minute, before he looked down at his bowl again. "No, I guess not."

He looked back up at his new associates "It's a little scary to think about, honestly. Until I first saw the _real_ Garlyle, I thought everything was steamships and trains and fighting with swords. Then I graduated and realized how… how primitive I lived by comparison."

He sighed. "Then I learned that there was no such thing as the End of the World, that humans went over the wall all of the time. It's such a scary thing that I'm afraid to go back home, really… I don't want to face my mother and my brothers and be unable to tell them 'there is such a bigger, better world out there, but you're not allowed to know about it'."

Finally, Gontz shook his head. "It's kind of bogus how enlightened the Garlyle Forces are, and how powerful they are because of it."

"Watch your language, kid," Catalina half-snapped.

"Sorry." He took another bite of his soup. "There's not a single person outside of the military who even realizes how far we've actually come. In a way, we're a lot like the humanoids to the Garlyle, aren't we? Savages…"

He lowered his spoon to the bowl again. "Now, the Garlyle are betraying us and even if we get the Spirit Stone to Alent, there's nothing more we can do against them."

"That's not true," Smalls' said.

"It's like you and the director talked about, even if Operation Yggdrasil fails, what's stopping the entire Garlyle from overthrowing the Joule Foundation and ruling over everyone like we were just… savages?"

Silence fell on the bridge, broken only by the whirring motors of the Gwyn and the hum of the _Bivrost._

Then there was the clink of Catalina's spoon inside her bowl, followed by her setting it back onto the Gwyn's tray.

"We are," she said plainly. "So are Justin, and Sue, and Feena."

Catalina then looked out towards the pale blue sky and the darkness it bordered. "Liete as well. She can't do much from where I imagine she is, but even that's _something."_

She turned back to Gontz. "We don't even have a tenth of Garlyle's war potential, but what we do have, and need to have, is determination. There's too much riding on what we do, to give up in the face of what we know, we need to do what little we can because even that is more than nothing."

Gontz felt a shiver run through him. It was much the same he got whenever Colonel Mullen made a speech. Catalina was right, worrying about how powerful the Garlyle were at this point wouldn't change things. Only action would.

"You're right," he said with a smile.

Catalina took her stew back. "Of course I am. I always am."

"The only time she isn't is when she and I argue," Smalls teased.

"Which is never," Catalina corrected.

"And you're wrong again," Smalls pointed out.

It took Catalina a minute. "… Dang it."

Gontz laughed, before changing the subject back to lighter topics. "So, Smalls, what are Lainians like?"

Smalls laughed. "Wild, intelligent, and fierce…" The scientist blushed with hands over cheeks. "But also surprisingly tender and kind."

"T-Tender?" Gontz repeated, before Imogen spoke up.

"Guys…? We have a coded message from the Foundation Contact in New Parm."

Everyone else looked to her, as she turned around in her seat and peered over it to look at them.

"Justin has arrived back in town."

…

Location: Town of New Parm  
Time: 20:00 Hours

 _Operation Thrymskvida was efficient at every stage. Within twelve hours, the Garlyle captured and compromised the Joule Foundation's assets based in New Parm, moved the appropriate forces into the vicinity of the town, and laid a trap so well-concealed that not even the Townspeople were aware of what was going on. Unfortunately, it was the very efficiency of the operation that led to its downfall…_

… _And our determination that sealed it._

Lieutenant Leen was in much brighter spirits as she turned to a projection of Colonel Mullen illuminated inside of the spacious bridge of a camouflage-net covered super heavy tank that served as her forward base for the operation. The large orange-hulled, three turreted monstrosity was just outside of the town, well concealed in one of the bamboo thickets that grew without human intervention in the town's outskirts.

"The time is now 20:00 hours, Colonel, as scheduled our forces are in town and are in position to strike," the inexplicably blue-haired young Lieutenant said with a smile that was rare in recent days.

"Well done, Leen, you work surprisingly well with a time limit," Mullen replied after performing a flick of his hair. "You should be proud of yourself."

Leen nodded. "It's just as much how fun it was to prepare this operation as my satisfaction, Colonel."

The young Colonel could only imagine. Once Leen learned the exact details of the operation, she was actually quite giddy to see it through. Not only would it involve a return to her old town, but if everything went as planned, it'd be a mission that would go through with hardly any incident.

That the three Sergeants would be absolutely miserable through it was a little bit of a bonus… nice as she was.

"Sergeants Saki and Mio should be in position, and I am waiting for confirmation from Sergeant Nana that the remaining units are clear to move when ready," she continued.

"Good," Mullen said, "We've found a good spot to keep the _Grandeur_ hidden until the _Bivrost_ appears, and Sergeant Mio's invention should keep us off their screens long enough for us to make a dash and bring them down."

Leen stood a little straighter then, and her smile vanished for trained professionalism. "I wish you luck on that portion of the operation. We will do our very best on our end."

Mullen noticed it. "Complete destruction of the _Bivrost_ is not our priority. Forcing it down will achieve the same outcome."

"I understand, Colonel," Leen replied, "But don't be reluctant to do what you must out of consideration for me. I am a soldier, too."

Mullen smiled slightly. "I keep underestimating you, Lieutenant."

Leen checked the time. "The time is 20:02 hours, Sergeant Nana should be reporting her units are in position."

Sure enough, the projector beeped a notification, and Leen nodded. "Excuse me, Colonel."

The image of the Colonel was replaced by that of Sergeant Nana, who immediately scowled upon her junior superior. "The men of the Bloody Rose, Lightning Star, and Desert Moon Squads are in position, _Lieutenant."_

"Are Sergeant Saki and Sergeant Mio in position?" Leen asked.

"Yes, _Lieutenant,"_ Nana replied, "They have entered town without incident and are currently waiting at the restaurant we told the target to meet them at."

"Have all civilians been accounted for?" Leen asked.

"Of course, _Lieutenant,_ the only civilians at the restaurant are the staff. Civilians are unaware of our presence entirely."

Leen really could do without Nana's attitude, but figured having to talk to her superior directly was downright stomach churning for her. "Remember, _Sergeant,_ this is a capture operation. Do not escalate the situation without warrant and keep your men on a _tight_ leash or the next mission you will undertake will involve a urinal and a toothbrush."

Nana's scowl flickered to a momentarily stunned surprise. Did the Colonel's quiet pet just snap at her? She was so miserably lucky that she outranked her.

" _Yes, Lieutenant,"_ she all but hissed at Leen, before closing the connection.

"Ugh, that stuck up priss! I bet she was holding that in for the exact second Colonel Mullen wasn't around to see it!" she snapped before turning to a pair of soldiers in black versions of the Garlyle soldier uniform.

They were standing at the door the adobe-walled, clay shingled roof building that was as common as dirt in New Parm, and directly across the dirt street from the restaurant where Saki and Mio were currently located. Until Nana had turned to face them, they were trying their hardest not to burst into laughter as their tyrannical commanding officer got served by the _true_ beauty of the Mullen Division.

"Well, is everything ready?" she asked.

"Yes, Sergeant."

Nana smirked, before folding her arms. "At 20:30, the priss will contact for a status report. Tell her that everything is _fine."_

Her expression became darker. "No matter what you might hear… or else."

The two soldiers quickly saluted. "Yes, Sergeant!"

With a smirk of satisfaction, Nana strolled over to the window of the adobe home, and peered discreetly through the curtains across the street. Of everyone in the operation, she was probably the only other person besides the Lieutenant who was happy where she was.

Saki and Mio were absolutely _miserable._

…

Location: Port of New Parm  
Time: 20:08 Hours

A sailboat powered with an electric motor pulled in close to New Parm's port. It came up behind the Parm/New Parm steamer, a massive, paddle-wheel driven ship that the civilians outside of the Joule Foundation held with such pride. On the deck of the boat was Gontz. He was looking up at the ship, looking like a shadowed hunk of metal in the deepening twilight, and feeling a little nostalgic.

"I appreciate you coming with me on this one," Catalina said as she emerged from the steering house of the sailboat, an invention of Smalls' for such stealthy insertions.

"I have to," Gontz said, "Besides, it'll be the first time I've seen Justin in a while."

Catalina, who now wore a pair of extremely short blue shorts, tan riding chaps, and a brown jacket over a black cutoff top, adjusted the bright red bandanna she wore over her blonde hair. "You didn't _have_ to, I'm actually pretty good at taking care of myself."

Gontz, wearing blue jeans, a bright green shirt, a heavy looking backpack, and a goofily large green hat, glanced at Catalina and then looked away. After spending so long in the Forces, he was not used to seeing this much skin with women. "The director said I should-"

"Duminas says a lot of things," Catalina said. "You saw how I handled those orcs, right?"

Gontz nodded. "Sorry."

Catalina smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Patting him again, she turned and hopped off the boat to begin tying it up. Gontz watched her, and the sharpness of her movements as she yanked the ropes, and it dawned on him with a sudden clarity that left him feeling more than a little ashamed.

"Let's not dwaddle, now," she said as she got up and hopped ashore. Gontz nodded and matched pace with her to the port's gate.

Part of what made New Parm such an ideal location for settlement was its climate, the days were hot and the nights were comfortable despite the proximity to the sea. It was so calm and peaceful, a nice night for a walk around the town. Stealing a look at Catalina, as they walked past the closed up merchant stands that were the first things to greet travelers from the Old World, Gontz folded his hands behind the back of his neck and looked up at the deepening twilight sky.

"Hey, I have a question," he said.

Catalina looked at him. "Let me have it."

"Director Duminas is kind of a jerk to you, isn't he?"

The short laugh Catalina let out told him it was an understatement. "He's a dirty old chauvinist who is about two decades out of date when it comes to dealing with women. That whole thing where he told you to take care of us and be strong was him being happy there was an actual manly man on board the _Bivrost."_

Gontz suddenly liked that old man a little less. "Oh… if I ever act like that, don't hesitate to correct me on that, okay?"

Catalina laughed. "I don't think you could ever do that even unintentionally. You're pretty whipped."

"Whipped?" Gontz asked, looking offended. "I'm not…"

"Twice you've looked like I was going to hit you for nothing," she said, "You've probably lived your whole life being beat up on by girls, huh?"

Gontz's face turned red. "Um… well… between my mother chasing me with a broom handle whenever I got into trouble, and Miss Lily's tray when she'd come down on Justin and me and my brothers… and the Sergeants…"

Catalina tried not to laugh, but it came out as a giggle. "It's exactly as I thought. You don't just respect women, you're outright afraid of them."

"Afraid of making them angry…" Gontz said a little darkly.

Catalina laughed out loud this time. "Well, that's certainly a healthy fear to have. But… don't be too afraid of me, okay? We're partners now, and I'm a lot more easygoing than you think."

"I um… got that idea…" he said, remembering the awkward wakeup call.

Catalina grinned. "So, liked what you saw?"

Gontz's face turned entirely red.

"I'll take that as a yes," she teased.

Gontz, still blushing, then rather meekly said. "I think your freckles are nice, why do you cover them up?"

It was Catalina's turn to bloom into a blush. "Er… I'm not a fan of them. I mean, they're not like yours… they're all over my face and cheeks. It's like I got the pox or something. It's hard to look professional when people's attention get drawn to them."

"Well, I think they're nice," he said reservedly.

Catalina looked aside, "A-all right… that's enough flattery for one night. We're on a mission, not a date, after all…"

"R-right!" Gontz quickly agreed, also looking anywhere but at her.

In their desperate attempt to escape awkwardness, they both realized that they'd arrived at the gate of New Parm.

"Oh! We're already here, great!" Gontz said. "Where did our people say Justin would be waiting?"

"Pakon's Dinner Theater," Catalina said… before she suddenly shuddered.

Gontz wondered what that was about. "Are you okay?"

"In this world, there are worse men than Duminas, I'll leave it at that," Catalina explained.

That only left Gontz with more questions, as they entered New Parm and headed for their destination.

…

Location: Pakon's Dinner Theater  
Time: 20:21 Hours

Pakon's Dinner Theater, like most of the businesses in the Town of New Parm, was owned by the head of New Parm's Adventurer's Society–a buffoon of a young man named Pakon who took the reins of the organization from his father, an Adventurer named Gauss. Not even worthy to be considered a pale shadow of his father, the clownish manchild single-handedly dismantled what was considered by some to be one of the most important organizations on the new continent, responsible for the many adventurers who historically helped explore it–reducing it to little more than a money machine for tourists from the Old World.

Pakon's Dinner Theater reflected the childishness and greed of the man it was named for. Once a respectable sake bar, it quickly became a gaudy place serviced with scantily dressed girls, decorated with pictures of Pakon himself–who somehow came to the conclusion that dressing as a clown and carrying around a lollipop at all times was fashionable–and featuring entertainment that pretty much sang his praises while promoting his business ventures.

"What an awful place," Gontz said as he and Catalina walked in.

"I agree, it's not the best atmosphere, but the food is actually pretty good," Catalina said before they were approached by a pretty waitress wearing even less than she was.

Gontz, flushing, tried not to stare.

"Like, hello! Welcome to Pakon's Dinner Theater!" the pretty girl greeted. "Will it be just the two of you?"

Catalina nodded. "Actually, we're here to see some friends of ours, Feena and Justin."

The waitress brightened. "Oh, like awesome! They are totally here, and they were totally expecting company."

Gontz tried to rein in his excitement. "Great, can you take us to them, then?"

"Like, right this way!" the waitress said as she headed further into the restaurant.

Catalina nudged Gontz just as they followed them in. "Be cool, okay? I know you're excited to see your friends, but we're in enemy territory. There could be Garlyle agents among the customers here."

Gontz nodded. "R-right…"

Crossing the entire length of the restaurant's lobby to get to the back wall of it, the two were brought to a booth in the corner, where a redheaded boy wearing blue coveralls with the legs and sleeves rolled way up, and a goofy looking conductor's hat with goggles holding them against his head was sitting with a green-haired girl wearing what a bikini and sarong combo with sun decals on them, and a pair of pink thigh-high stockings.

Right away, Gontz noticed something worrying–namely the absence of an adorable purple-haired girl with an unusually large yellow ribbon.

"Hello, how's your food?" the waitress greeted the two. "Like, your friends have totally shown up!"

The redheaded boy, Justin, looked up and at the waitress, before looking over at Catalina and Gontz. "Thanks, can we have our check? We're about finished here," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Like, for sure, but did you want to order anything for your guests?" the waitress asked.

"No, that will be fine," Feena–the green-haired girl–gently said.

"Okay!" the clerk said as she turned and headed for the back, her bright façade briefly vanishing to reveal a brooding disappointment at a lost tip.

As she walked away, Catalina looked back and forth between Justin and Feena. Gontz, seeing only two spots at the table, went from worried to alarmed.

"Justin! Oh man, I'm glad to see you, but…" he looked back and forth from Justin and the empty spot at the table. "Where's Sue? Is she okay?"

Catalina then rested her hand on Gontz's shoulder. "Um… Gontz?"

Gontz looked over at her, and found she looked somewhere between sick and furious. When he looked back, he noticed that, Justin and Feena were both wearing the nastiest smiles as they stared at the two of them. On closer inspection, Gontz realized that "Justin" had brown eyes, when he was supposed to have blue, and "Feena" was putting on a pair of yellow-tinted glasses-

"Oh… bogus…" he muttered, as "Justin" reached up and removed his hat, revealing Sergeant Saki's shorter (yet just as unruly) mop of red hair.

"Well, well, well," Mio said as she reclined back in her seat. "It seems you're exactly as dumb as I calculated."

Catalina, bristling, took a half-step back. She stopped when she saw that the other patrons in the restaurant, a total of twelve seated around the restaurant, rising from their seats. All men, and despite their disguises they all looked military-trained. A perfect trap, and they'd literally walked right into it! She couldn't believe it, had all of their agents in town been compromised that quickly?!

"Oh man, the look on your face!" Saki said as she drew from the sheath on her back her Garlyle saber. "Disguising as this idiot was worth it just for this, right Mio?"

"I'll say." Mio looked down at her garb. "Drafty and lewd as this is, I do make a pretty convincing Feena. Just like you make an exceptionally masculine Justin."

Saki shot Mio the _nastiest_ look.

Mio then gave Catalina the once-over and couldn't help a snipe. "Though seeing you in _that_ getup makes me thankful that I have the body for mine."

Catalina went from horrified and furious at walking into this trap, to downright enraged at Mio's catty barb. "You really shouldn't sell us so short. You captured all of the Foundation's agents and pulled this elaborate sting together within a day. Even a pro would fall for this trap."

Mio chuckled. "Not that you were a pro to begin with, but I suppose you're right."

"Yeah, you old hag," Saki said. "I'm going to enjoy watching you dangle from the gallows."

She then looked to Gontz. "And you too, traitor!"

Gontz recoiled. "Y-you're the traitors!"

Saki didn't take kindly to that, and drove her fist into Gontz's stomach. "Don't you take that tone with me, maggot!"

"Ah, Gontz!" Catalina gasped as the winded young man collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach.

At that moment, the front door of the restaurant opened and in walked Nana, followed by six more men in full Garlyle gear and bearing sabers. "I hate to say it, but it looks like the Lieutenant's going to have good news to report to Herr Mullen."

Catalina scanned the room from Saki and Mio to Nana, and then back again. The entrance to the restaurant was covered, and there were way too many soldiers to just fight through. To the side, past the disguised soldiers, was the doorway to the back of the restaurant, where there was most likely a door to the back… but that was probably covered too.

"It's pretty hopeless," Nana taunted, "So don't make this too hard for us and come quietly."

She developed a nasty sneer. "Though I'm perfectly fine with you trying to fight. I'd like to pay you back for your disrespect!"

Catalina clenched her teeth. As much as she hated this, she was right. This situation was utterly hopeless!

There was suddenly a loud bang, drawing everyone's attention to the double doors of the restaurant that led to the kitchen. Standing in the now open doorway was an exceptionally muscular chef with smoothly slicked-back hair ending in a braided pigtail, and bandages wrapped around his calloused hands. Through narrowed eyes shadowed by his bushy eyebrows, he glared death at Saki before pointing at her.

"… You!" he suddenly shouted aloud at the Sergeant.

Saki recoiled. "Me?!"

The chef then adopted a fighting stance. "Rematch!"

Saki's eyes grew large. "What?!"

The chef then yelled aloud.

" _ **FIGHT!"**_

The martial artists then became nearly a blur, hopping from side to side in a dancing motion, before he was suddenly all over the place, skillfully moving around the soldiers who were between him and Saki like water flowing through a brook. In less than a second he was rounding Catalina and the downed Gontz, with his arm drawn back.

Saki, falling upon her training, quickly raised her sword to strike, but the chef's calloused knuckles were already filling her field of view.

"Wait, wha-?" she managed to blurt out.

The blow connected, and the next thing Saki knew everything was spinning. She felt her body impact with something, which hurt, before she heard a bang and then everything outside the restaurant was spinning… before she hit what she was pretty sure was the adobe wall of the safehouse Nana had been using across the street.

The question of how she got outside was one that weighed heavily on her mind as she peeled off the wall like a stuck pancake and fell face-first onto the ground.

On the other end of the swirling trail of dust left by the punch, the chef stood posed in the completed motion of his devastating blow.

"Fist of the End of the World Supreme Finishing Technique! Super Tornado Punch!" he declared aloud.

Mio and Nana, and all of their soldiers were all in stunned silence at what had just happened to Saki. So much that they were hesitant to move at all towards Catalina and Gontz plus the interloper.

Catalina, as gobsmacked as everyone else in the room was, suddenly began to think very, _very_ fast. "Hey! Big guy!"

The chef looked over at her. "Hm?"

"I have bad news, good news, awful news, and great news!" she quickly began. "The bad news, that guy you just punched was not the guy you wanted to punch!"

The chef was surprised. "Hm?!"

"The good news is, I'm looking for Justin and have a good lead on where he is!"

The chef went from surprised to understanding. "Hmm!"

"The awful news is that these Garlyle guys want to kill us, then kill him!"

The chef became quite angry and narrowed his eyes; that would not do. "Hmm…"

"The great news is, if you help us escape, I can take you straight to him and you can have that rematch for real!"

The chef didn't even need a second to mull that over. "My name is Chang, seventy-third Grand Master of the End of the World Fist. I shall take you up on your offer."

It took a moment for that to register with Nana. "Wait, what?!"

Suddenly Chang was leaping into a soaring backflip, arcing through the air to land among the disguised soldiers of the Desert Moon and Lightning Star Squads to land square on his head. Spreading his legs perpendicular to his body, he called out.

"SPIN KICK!"

He spun like a top, striking the soldiers with his feet and legs and sending them sprawling in different directions.

Reaching into Gontz's backpack, Catalina pulled out a pair of trench knives and his Garlyle Saber before taking the former into her hands. "Gontz, we gotta go!"

Gontz coughed and nodded as he picked up his sword and turned towards the mess that Chang was making. "What's the plan?!"

"Follow the-!" Catalina suddenly turned and deflected with the knuckle guard of the knife a skillful rapier lunge from Mio, who wielded a blade she'd hidden under her table. Knocked back in spite of the deflect, Catalina planted her feet and deflected a barrage of thrusts and stabs from Mio's sword.

Drawing back her rapier, Mio smirked and then lunged again like a missile, a wave of force coming from her blade as she aimed to plunge it into Catalina's chest. "HA!"

Catalina smartly caught the blade between both her trench knives, and directed it and Mio past her using her own momentum.

"H-huh?!" Mio managed to sputter before Catalina's boot drove into the small of her back and she was sent stumbling into a table and some chairs, knocking them over. "UWAH!"

Catalina looked back at an amazed Gontz. "As I was saying: follow the big guy!"

Nana, who had managed to avoid one of her own soldiers turned into a Chang-propelled missile, immediately caught sight of Catalina and Gontz moving towards her. "Oh no you don't!"

She moved quickly, closing in on Gontz and swinging her Garlyle saber. Gontz, prepared for a strong blow, quickly raised his sword and parried the strike. Nana followed up, her poke-like thrusts forcing Gontz to keep his sword raised defensively to avoid getting struck.

The Sergeant, however, was a bit too fast for him, and one poke caught his shoulder, allowing her to swing diagonally and downward, leaving a cut on his chest.

"Ah!" he hissed in pain, as it left his neck exposed to a follow-up strike.

Nana's blow came up woefully short as Catalina shoved Gontz aside and caught the saber with the serrated teeth of the trench knife in her left hand. As she guided the sword away her right hand, with the grip on the other trench knife inverted, came up to drive the knuckle shield into Nana's chin in an uppercut.

"Urk!" Nana staggered back, and then used her sword to parry both of Catalina's knives in quick succession, before she locked against them both.

She couldn't believe it. How in the world was this pencil-pusher this good of a fighter?

Without hesitation, Nana shot her leg out to sweep Catalina off hers. Instead, Catalina caught her foot against hers, then quickly skirted it around to catch her by the ankle then completely drop her footing. "Ah!"

The knuckle shield of Catalina's left trench knife collided with her face, and Nana was knocked onto her back and against one of her knocked out men.

Catalina, for her merit, was a little disturbed. _"That was like punching a brick wall, these girls are crazy tough!"_

Gontz pressed his hand to his chest, and sighed as the heal spell he used on himself took effect. Getting up, he saw in front of him Chang narrowly avoiding the stabs and swings from other Garlyle soldiers, his fleet feet and furious fists striking the soldiers decisively.

"Traitor!"

He looked over and saw one of the Garlyle Soldiers get up, picking up a second saber off one of his fallen comrades, before crossing both in front of him and adopting a two-sword stance.

Gontz looked at his hand, and then pointed it at the soldier, casting Crackle and knocking him out cold. "Chill out."

A second soldier attacked, and Gontz managed to parry and then cut the soldier with a return stroke. Raising his hand, he pointed it at a third soldier, and cast a Howl spell that struck and blew the soldier back into another table.

As he turned to the side to parry another soldier, Catalina punched the soldier with her knife and kept going forward. "We gotta keep going!"

"Right!" Gontz called as he fell in behind her and slashed the disoriented soldier, putting him down for the count.

At the doors to the restaurant, two Garlyle soldiers yelled as the charged Chang. The slash of one went through a flickering afterimage, before Chang's knee collided with the side of his head and dropped him on the spot. The other soldier raised his blade, a glow shimmering around it, but Chang was faster, and his mighty fist collided with the soldier's chest and sent him spinning out the doors like he had Saki, knocking them off their hinges.

As the soldier hit the ground, Chang strode outside, followed by both Catalina and Gontz.

"Fist of the End of the World, huh?" Catalina asked. "Fitting name…"

"It is an art learned by my ancestors, after crossing the ocean to the New World," Chang said stiffly. "It is a relic of the Angelou Civilization."

Gontz was surprised. "Really? An Angelou Martial Art?"

Chang nodded. "Hm!"

"And Justin beat you?" Catalina asked.

Gontz recoiled. "That's why you KOed Saki?!"

"He and his companion were incredibly strong," Chang admitted. "While not an easy battle, he ultimately prevailed over me."

"Wow, you hit like a tank! How did Justin even win?!" Gontz said in awe.

Chang was unfamiliar with the term. "What is a tank?"

Catalina then looked to her left. "That's a tank."

And then an 88mm tank round shot past them and smashed into the wall of the town, blasting a large chunk out of it. All three remained frozen in surprise and dismay as they looked at the green and gold colored, steam-powered tank that adjusted its aim ever so slightly to place its crosshairs on them. Beside it, a second Garlyle Tank rolled up, similarly training its weapon onto the group.

Standing atop the first tank, a recovered Saki wiped the blood that trickled from her mouth before she smiled menacingly. "Now that I have your attention! It's time for you to surrender and start pleading for mercy!"

As she said this, both Nana and Mio emerged from the bar, as more Garlyle Soldiers entered the street. Catalina, Gontz, and Chang looked around at the completely lopsided odds as they drew closer together.

Chang hummed. "This many men I would have little trouble with, it is these tanks as you call them that give me concern."

"Yeah, that's a common thing about the Garlyle," Catalina said. "Luckily, I am a lady who believes in preparing for any situation, such as leaving my radio on so the _Bivrost_ has heard everything that's happened so far."

"Radio?" Chang asked.

"Just one of the many interesting things you're about to get a crash course on, Mr. Karate," Smalls' voice called from Catalina's back pocket. "We're already en route to drop the Ranger Equipment. Please do try not to get crushed."

Catalina then raised her hands, her expression grim. "All right, you win. We surrender."

Saki smirked, as she was joined by Nana and Mio. "That's exactly what I like to see!"

…

Location: Off the Coast of New Parm  
Time: 20:27 Hours

The waves scattering beneath its hull as it traveled at top speed, the Bivrost screamed towards New Parm with its altitude barely above the mast of the New Parm Steamer. Along the ventral hull, aft of the closed lifting engines, a long hatch opened, revealing a rig holding a cylinder shaped drum that begins rotating at high speed, developing a tremendous backspin.

On the bridge, illuminated only by the screens at their consoles, both Hector and Imogen watched the port of New Parm approach their bows rapidly.

"ETA to drop point, twenty seconds!" Imogen reported. "Maintain course and altitude to the drop point!"

Hector, who kept his eyes dead ahead and left the instrumentation to his sister, nodded. "Roger!"

"My, I certainly hope they're not dead by the time this gets here," Smalls, who stood behind them quite sturdily despite the turbulence of flying so fast and so low, mused aloud. "That would be awkward."

"Let's not think about that outcome, okay?!" Hector shouted back.

"Ten seconds!" Imogen called out. "We're crossing the port now!"

On the deck of the New Parm Steamer, the incredible sound of approaching engines had brought her sailors and her Captain to the deck. Their curiosity quickly turned to disbelief as the massive form of the _Bivrost_ sliced through the air just aft of the ship and bored on through the humid night towards the town itself.

"Dropping in three, two, one…!" Imogen called out just as the ship passed over the gate leading from the port to the long path to the town. On one, the cylinder disengaged from the ship and it pulled into a sharp climb, leaving the spinning drum to hit the ground and then bounce, the backspin giving it all the momentum of a skipping stone that bounced towards the town at hundreds of miles per hour.

…

"Ohohohoho! So, what should it be? Firing squad right now? Or should we take them back and torture them first?" Nana asked.

"I can go both ways," Saki declared as she gave Chang the stink-eye for his cheap shot from before.

"I knew it," Mio chimed in.

That took Saki a second, and she gave Mio an even darker look. "How dare you."

"Sergeants, look!" A Garlyle soldier then shouted, pointing skyward right as the _Bivrost_ shot over the town, rising up in a near vertical climb.

"The _Bivrost!"_ Nana shouted.

"Wait, what's it doing here?!" Saki demanded. "Do those lunatics not care that they're revealing themselves to these yokels?!"

Mio looked at Saki, who she knew for a fact grew up on a farm. "Yokels?"

Over the fading roar of the departing ship, the three sergeants then noticed the approaching bangs of something large and metal bouncing off the ground. That was the only warning they received when a cylinder half the size of a Garlyle Tank hopped over the town's wall, passed over the heads of Catalina, Gontz, and Chang, and went bouncing straight for the tank Nana, Saki, and Mio were gathered around.

All three Sergeants screamed, and dove clear of the tank, which took the hit head on from the bouncing cylinder and was thrown backwards off its treads and onto its turret with a mighty crash. Rebounding in the other direction, the cylinder landed with a final bang, kicking up a cloud of dust as it rolled back towards Catalina's group, coming to a stop.

Gontz stared at the cylinder, shaken. "What's this?"

"The Ranger equipment," Catalina said as she went in search of a hatch. "You guys, I need a minute to get ready. Try to get to cover?"

Chang cracked his knuckles. "I would much rather test my strength against these tanks of theirs."

Gontz looked from Chang, to the cylinder, to Catalina, and then towards the Garlyle forces beyond the clearing dust. "I guess I'm going to help you, then." He turned to Catalina. "Cat, please be careful!"

"I told you not to call me that," Catalina said as she found the hatch button and ducked inside.

Saki was the first one up, giving a look of disbelief at the trashed tank, before looking at the cylinder as the dust settled. "Is… is that a bomb?"

"It would've blown up when it hit the tank," Mio said. "My best guess is that it would be some sort of weapon container or carrying some kind of escape vehicle…"

Before Mio could realize the implications of what she was saying, Nana was already on it. "Men! Don't let them get the contents of that container!"

Saki, getting up and picking up her sword, called to the other tank. "Open fire on it right now!"

"OHRYAAAAAAAH!" Chang suddenly bellowed as he fell upon the remaining tank from above, his Super Tornado Punch plunging down through the roof of the tank and taking out the gunners inside it.

As the human anti-tank missile was used to great effect, Gontz pointed his hand at the troups adjacent to the tank and concentrated with all of his might. "Knock 'em all down with Gale Force!"

A blue light shimmered in Gontz's open palm that began spinning like a sawblade. With all his might, he threw the light at the Sergeants and their soldiers. Striking the ground, the light expanded, and the air caught by its cutting edges spun up into a large tornado of air, dirt, and blades of light that barreled into the overturned tank, the wind scattering Nana, Mio, and their men the instant it hit them.

Mio collided with the side of a house, along with two of her men. Nana bounced off the front of the overturned tank and fell flat on her face, only to be unintentionally dogpiled by four more soldiers. Only Saki, who had braced herself, remained standing after the hit. Lowering her arm, she glared death at Gontz, fire burning in her eyes.

"You think that's going to keep me down, you worm?!" She yelled out.

Chang then punched her in the side of the head, sending her crashing into Mio, who let out a chicken-like squawk when the well-muscled young woman struck her.

"Hmph, I expected more from that tank," Chang announced after landing his sucker punch. Behind him, the second tank was smoldering, with its badly beaten crew lying on or around it.

Movement out the corner of his eye alerted him, and Chang quickly turned to narrowly avoid a Yo-Yo of all things. Wearing a furious look, Nana recalled then swung the Yo-Yo again, and Chang expertly weaved under to dodge it. Finally, Nana spun around, swinging the Yo-Yo with all her might. Seeing it coming, Chang jumped back and watched in surprise as it hit the side of the tank with enough force to lift it on one tread.

"Hm! Their strength is impressive!" He declared, before he saw a light off to his side.

Turning, he found Saki bathed in a green vortex, imbuing her with power. Next to her, Mio had her hands folded on her chest, as a blue light shone over her head, the rings of the Alhealer+ spell casting its healing powers onto all three Sergeants and their men.

Gontz saw this, and paled. "Oh no! Get away from them!"

"Let's see you do that to me again, Karate Man!" Saki yelled before she raced for him, much faster than before. So fast that she left a trail of afterimages behind her. "HAAAAAAA!"

Chang's mighty right missed, when Saki reached him. His attempt at a left to catch her in the middle of her evasion only punched through an afterimage, before Saki's uppercut connected with his chin, lifting him off his feet.

" _Too quick!"_ Chang thought, before Saki connected a powerful lariat to his upper chest, the force of the blow knocking him back to land at Gontz's feet.

Gontz looked from Chang to the three Sergeants, who all looked much less for wear and were all standing neatly in a row in front of him, their swords pointed at him. He looked at his hand, he had used his most powerful spell and wouldn't be able to use it again unless he got some rest or restored his magic power. Despite Chang's power, he'd hardly been able to keep even Saki down for long, and they were able to use magic as strong as the Colonel's.

He glanced back, at the cylinder. He _really_ hoped Catalina would finish soon!

"Enough of this nonsense, let's finish them all at once with the Trinity Attack!" Saki yelled.

Nana laughed. "Ohohoho! For once you say something that I agree with wholly!"

Mio smiled. "According to my calculations, this should be overkill. Let's exceed those expectations!"

All three flickered and vanished, before appearing in a circle around Gontz, Chang, and the container, their swords glowing brightly with power. In unison, the Sergeants crossed their arms over their chests, transferring the power from their swords to their bodies, before all three began moving in a circle around them, generating waves of energy that closed in on their targets, the ground crumbling and erupting with power as they reached them.

Gontz quickly threw up his arms–this was going to hurt!

…

Location: Vicinity of New Parm  
Time: 20:30 Hours

Operation Thrymskvida had called for one of three scenarios involving the _Bivrost._ In the first scenario, The _Bivrost_ would attempt to approach from the air at a very low altitude, getting close to New Parm to drop its agents off and then when it turned away the _Grandeur_ and her fighter wing would ambush it. The second expected a high-altitude insertion from the _Bivrost,_ staying high above the town to stay unseen while an agent parachuted to the ground. This would've allowed the _Grandeur's_ Kites to intercept it well before they even got to that point. The third was that the _Bivrost_ would attempt an insertion by sea using its submarine ability, coming close to the shore to surface and allow its agents to swim in. In that event, the Garlyle Forces in town would capture the agents inserted.

All of these plans banked on the presumption that the Joule Foundation didn't want the civilians of New Par to see such things as airships for their own eyes as much as the Garlyle did. So of course when the _Bivrost_ flew directly over the town, and then proceeded to climb near vertically from it, Leen was more than a little dismayed.

"Colonel, the _Bivrost_ flew directly over New Parm," an alarmed Leen reported to Mullen's projection.

Mullen was surprised. "Straight over it?!" His wide-eyed disbelief stayed for a moment, before he lowered his gaze and smirked, letting out a short laugh. "We've underestimated these bureaucrats, they have as much nerve as we do. Track the Bivrost, we're vectoring in Kites to intercept, and get in contact with the Sergeants for a status update."

"Understood, Colonel!" Leen replied, and the connection to the _Grandeur_ was cut. She turned to the tank's commander. "Keep track of the position of the _Bivrost,_ update the _Grandeur_ and its Kites to vector them in to attack."

"Yes, Lieutenant!" The tank's commander replied.

Leen turned to the projector again, and contacted the safehouse that Nana was supposed to be in. Her dismay grew when she saw that it was a soldier of the Bloody Rose Squad that greeted her instead.

"Where is Sergeant Nana?" Leen asked. "What is going on down there?"

"Ah, situation normal, Lieutenant!" The soldier quickly replied.

Leen found that hard to believe. "The _Bivrost_ literally just flew over the town, what are your soldiers doing to prevent a panic?"

The soldier immediately looked nervous. "Sergeant Nana stepped out to join the other soldiers and-"

That's when several explosions caused the soldier to jump, explosions that Leen heard as well. The soldier, not looking at the projector, was a shaken by the blasts. When he looked back, he became very shaken at Leen's own shocked face. "Ah…"

"What was that?!" Leen demanded.

"Uh… Sergeant Nana's on the toilet, spicy New Parm food, sorry Lieutenant everything is fine and SergeantNanatoldmetotellyouthatIgottagobye!"

The projector cut off, leaving Leen somewhat frazzled. She looked towards the town itself, and saw that smoke and dust was rising from the source of those explosions.

Something had gone wrong.

No.

 _Everything_ had gone wrong.

"Commander, belay that," she said. "Begin advancing on New Parm. The situation is out of Sergeant Nana's control."

…

Gontz slowly opened one eye, and then the other. He wasn't dead after taking a hit that powerful? He looked around, and the first thing he saw was that he was on the roof of a house. Right next to him was the second thing, Chang shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his head, Chang was looking at something out the corner of his eye, something that was right behind Gontz.

When he turned over slightly and looked up, his eyes widened when he saw the armored form of Catalina's Ranger Equipment, completely locked around her body like a true suit of armor.

"C-Catalina…?" Gontz whispered.

As the _Bivrost's_ climb leveled out, Smalls looked at the console directly in between Hector and Imogen, showing an image of the Ranger Equipment latched tightly to Catalina's body. To it right of it were five stats: Attack, Defense, Movement, Agility, and Hit Points. Next to each stat, a brightly shining yellow 7 blinked back and forth with a bright orange MAX! Symbol.

"Here we go," Smalls spoke, "Full power."

On the street below, the three Sergeants looked up at Catalina in the Ranger Equipment, all unsure of what to make of the thing that they were looking at. Quietly Catalina stood, her left side to them, the tattered and torn blue cape hanging off her back and waist of her plate, and the massive All-Ranger held over her shoulder in her right hand. She then turned her head, with her helmet covering it and her face, the only thing the Sergeants could see was a faint red glow inside the visor, that then grew much brighter.

"What… is that? What is that?!" Nana asked.

"I don't know, but it came out of that container," Saki said as she readied her sword.

Mio swallowed a bit. "According to my calculations… we might need to-"

In the time she spoke that, Catalina went from standing on the roof to spinning towards them, to slamming the All-Ranger down upon them. Though Saki was the target, all three scattered to get clear, but they could not be blamed for it, as the All-Ranger's impact created a massive hole in the ground that caused the front of a house beyond it to collapse into.

Saki wasn't intimidated, in fact she was ecstatic! "Oh, now this is what I'm talking about!"

Mio looked over when she saw Saki running straight for the armored knight, and decided that such a move was a bad idea.

Catalina, one-handed, swung the All-Ranger around and lifted it to slam down on Saki, whose speed allowed her to easily sidestep and lunge in with a stab, aiming for Catalina's throat. "I got you-!"

Catalina had swung the sword around in that same instant as her lunge, and the flat of the All-Ranger collided with Saki's stomach, catching her just as she left her feet, and flinging her like a ragdoll through the air. In her rapid ascent, she clipped and took off the corner of another house on her way over New Parm's wall.

Nana had been in the middle of coordinating her attack with Saki's, throwing her Yo-Yo at Catalina, when she saw Saki get knocked literally out of town by the armored knight. Turning to face Nana, Catalina's left hand shot forth and caught the Yo-Yo in its steel gauntlet, and summarily crushed it.

When she lost the Yo-Yo, Nana reflexively recoiled in shock, costing her any time to try to let go of the string, which Catalina swiftly yanked her by. "Whoa-whoa-whoaaa-!"

There was a loud clang, as Nana's forehead met Catalina's helmet, and the violet-haired Sergeant dropped to the dirt road, unconscious.

She then turned towards where Mio was supposed to be standing, and saw that she wasn't there anymore.

Up on the roof, Gontz called out. "Catalina! Behind you!"

Catalina turned, but too late, and Mio's stun guns came in contact with her chest plate, delivering a max-power charge into her armor. "Take this!"

Gontz and Chang both watched, as so much electricity crackled across Catalina's armor that they could see the lightning bolts dancing across the plates and over the gaps. On the preferred end to be on of the stun guns, Mio was grinning. "It was a bad move to think you could beat us so easily with armor!"

Then Catalina's hand shot forward, grabbing Mio by the throat, and turning her into yet another path for the electricity to travel through, which it did, next to unimpeded thanks to her immodest excuse for clothes she so readily derided–then bragged about.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Mio screamed in pain, before Catalina let her drop to the ground, her body twitching involuntarily and giving off a bit of smoke from the power of her own stun guns.

"Whoa…" Gontz said in awe.

"Such tremendous power, such violence," Chang said grimly. "It must come at a great price"

Gontz looked at Chang, and then back at Catalina, who was now facing the remaining Garlyle Soldiers as she kicked Mio aside as one did a piece of trash in her path. With their commanding officers so easily beaten, the Garlyle Soldiers suddenly didn't look so hot to trot against the monstrous armored woman… at least until one of them got a look back and smiled almost in relief.

"It's the Lieutenant!" The soldier called out.

Catalina looked up past the soldiers, and saw right on the other end of the road the towering orange monstrosity of a tank aiming its highest and largest turret at her. On the bridge, Lieutenant Leen looked at the armored figure in confusion and concern. Just looking at it made her feel uneasy, and not just because she'd caught sight of it dispatching Nana and Mio in quick succession.

"Main cannon, fire on my mark, and do not miss!" She ordered. "FIRE!"

The flash of the cannon firing was followed almost instantaneously by the 128mm round smashing into Catalina, the impact creating a large dust cloud from the impact and explosion of the shell.

As the explosion echoed in the town, the Garlyle soldiers broke into cheers, while a mortified Gontz and Master Chang looked down at the point of impact in disbelief.

"Yeah!" One soldier called out. "That's the power of the Garlyle!"

"Our technology is the greatest in the world!" Yelled another.

"Hail the Lieutenant! The strongest of us all!" A third added.

On the roof, Gontz took a step back from the edge, his eyes wide and dilated in fear. Even Chang, who'd faced a previous tank shell without fear, had given in to the emotion of the moment. Both were horrified with what they saw, and when the dust began to clear, the cheering soldiers stopped when they saw why.

Catalina was still standing, the All-Ranger held in front of her–a large scorch mark where the shell had struck square in the middle of the flat side of its blade.

On board the tank, the Commander's mouth fell open, while Leen covered hers with both hands.

"What…?" The Lieutenant whispered.

As the Garlyle soldiers closest to her stepped away, Catalina stepped forward, slowly walking at first, building speed as she passed the soldiers, until she was in a full-on charge straight towards the super heavy tank, with both hands gripping the All-Ranger's hilt. Aboard the tank, the commander immediately leaned forward.

"Open fire! Bring that thing down!"

Leen looked towards him, shocked out of her own fear for her very real concern for the people of New Parm. "No! Don't!"

It was too late, the other gunners aboard the tank, in a panic after seeing Catalina survive the first shell, opened fire with all their weapons, the fire converging on Catalina. Cannon fire of different caliber and rates soon issued from the super heavy tank, impacted on and around Catalina, the smaller rounds deflecting off her armor, or outright exploding against it. She ignored it, charging onward even when another of the tank's largest shells passed narrowly over her head and exploded just behind her.

"It's not stopping! It's not stopping!" A gunner shouted in fear.

"We can't depress the main gun any lower!" The topmost gunner yelled.

Leen watched Catalina's approach, her hands shaking as she watched the red eye glimmer inside of the helmet's visor. The color was fading from her already beautiful pale skin, as images, terrible flashes of destruction, fire, and sorrow flashed in her vision. That red light, that eye, it flickered between those images, piercing through them and into her… its ravenous gaze baring to her the hunger that desired to consume her.

Lieutenant Leen began to scream in terror.

The commander of the tank wasn't going to give up. "Advance! I don't care if you have to run her over"

It was too late. Even as the last shells and rounds exploded off her armor, Catalina reached the tank, thrusting the All-Ranger forward and plunging it forward into the tank's hull. On impact, the entire tank was shoved backward several feet. The light from her bad eye shining brighter, Catalina planted her feet, as the joint armor of the Ranger equipment began to glow yellow.

Then she moved, kicking off and shoving the tank back much further, pushing it back up the road out of New Parm it came down. Like a runaway train, the tank built up momentum, pushing back further and further, as the glow of the Ranger equipment grew. Then, with her hands tightly gripping the weapon, Catalina's fingers on her right hand wrapped around a trigger just below the trigger guard–and squeezed.

There was a loud, if muffled crack from inside. Then the crew of the tank came spilling from hatches on the side, the rear, and the turrets, followed by a massive explosion that blew off all of the turrets of the tank–turning it into a massive set of flaming smokestacks on treads.

Catalina landed a short distance from the tank, All-Ranger in hand, and fell to one knee. Smoke rose heavily from the weapon, while steam hissed from the rest of the armor. The hissing continued, before piece by piece it opened until it was resembling the bulkier armor that Gontz recognized her wearing at the Dom ruins.

"Catalina!" He shouted as he scrambled down from the roof and began sprinting for her. Chang was right behind him, jumping off the roof with ease and landing in a roll he turned to a sprint to the kneeling woman.

Catalina, pale and weary, slowly pushed herself up to her feet. Her left eye watered heavily, as though she were having an allergic reaction, and her face was extremely pale. Leaning on the All-Ranger, she looked back towards Gontz and Chang, and began to smile. They were okay, everything was okay.

She then spoke into her radio. "Smalls, I don't care how you do it… but we need to get out of here, right n-"

Catalina stopped.

Gontz and Chang stopped.

The Garlyle Soldiers crawling or running from their burning tank stopped.

The _Bivrost_ , high overhead and beginning to bank around, stopped.

The flames that flickered and danced atop the tank stopped.

The world… stopped.

In the stillness of a frozen moment only one thing moved at all, Lieutenant Leen, stepping from behind the burning tank, her head turned towards Catalina as she entered her line of sight. A light emanated from Leen, a pair of long, sharp wings that spread out behind her, radiating a tremendous power.

Time Gate, one of the many great powers of the Icarians. With it, Leen could stop time and do as she pleased for the duration that time was stopped to her. In her experience with the power, Leen was able to stop time for at least 30 seconds without difficulty.

She normally wouldn't use it so brazenly before her own rank and file, let alone within sight of civilians, but this demanded it.

In the frozen world, she walked towards Catalina, her eyes wide as she stared at the face of Catalina.

"It's not possible," she said quietly, as she neared her, "That something like you can exist. It shouldn't be possible… but you do."

In her right hand, she held her rapier ready, as her gaze fell to Catalina's exposed neck. Really, with the loosened armor, she could target any gap between them and score an effective hit… but she needed to be sure that this _thing_ would die.

"I don't know how the Joule Foundation created you," she said, her tone shaking as she raised her sword, "And you probably don't even realize what it is you are. But for the future of mankind I have to destroy you. I… I am sorry…"

She prepared to strike, when Catalina's left eye, and only the left eye, moved. It rolled around in its socket, and focused on her, the only other thing moving in the frozen world.

Leen recoiled, and then propelled herself skyward–narrowly avoiding a powerful swing from the All-Ranger. As she came to a stop in her ascent, her body shaking and her skin crawling, she saw that the shockwave of the swing had cut clean through the wreckage of the tank.

She looked back at Catalina, who was smiling hungrily up at her, the tears that had poured from her bad eye now running red with blood that was also leaking from her left ear and nostril.

"Don't be skittish, _my kitten,"_ Catalina purred in a low voice. "Come to me, I promise it won't hurt for long."

Hearing her speak, Leen blanched, her light growing brighter defensively.

"No, impossible," Leen whimpered. "What are you? _Why_ are you?"

She then realized she was at her limit with Time Gate. She couldn't stay, not while she risked revealing her power. Shaking her head again, part in frustration but very much in fear, Leen turned and flew away from the town, moving with such speed that the light from her wings became a short trail behind her.

Time resumed, and Catalina fell forward again, her free hand shooting to cover her eye as she panted heavily in pain. Pulling her hand back to examine it, she quickly replaced it at the sight of the blood on her palm, and leaned against the All-Ranger. Her whole body hurt, her arms, her legs, but especially her eye, her bloody broken eye.

"S-Smalls… we gotta go… w-we gotta go now… it's starting to hurt…" She whimpered.

"It's okay, Catalina, it's okay…" As Smalls spoke, the shadow of the _Bivrost_ fell over her, Gontz, and Chang. The former rushed to her and knelt by her side, as the latter stopped to gaze at the massive craft that could so nimbly alight through the air.

"… Everything will be all right."

…

Location: 22 miles northwest of New Parm  
Time: 20:47 Hours

Mullen was nervous. The last thing he'd heard was that Leen's command tank was moving _into_ New Parm and that the situation had gotten out of hand. After that, there was silence as they waited for an update from the Kites sent that way. Leen couldn't be raised, or any of the Sergeants, as loud and frantic as the operations around him were, the radio silence was deafening.

"Colonel," a Garlyle Soldier in a gold uniform reported as he came aboard the bridge.

Mullen turned to him. "What is it, soldier?"

"The Lieutenant, she…" When the soldier began to speak, Mullen's blood ran cold.

Only for an instant, for as soon as it began it was over with the opening of the doors to the bridge, revealing a shaken Leen walking in.

"… She has returned to the ship," the soldier finished, surprised that she was here. "Lieutenant Leen, you were ordered to remain in the sickbay…"

"I said I needed to speak to the Colonel," Leen said before she looked to Mullen, "The operation was a complete and total failure, Colonel." She looked down. "That woman from the Joule Foundation, her eye…"

Lieutenant Leen had gained her rank after her heritage as an Icarian had been discovered to keep her as close to Mullen and his father the General. A role far too big for such a young girl, and despite her best efforts to fit the role she'd been given, there were still times where it became clear that she was a girl from the country who could only do so much. Before Mullen at this very moment, it was more raw and exposed than ever. She was terrified, on the verge of going into shock, while still trying to maintain her professionalism.

He'd only seen Leen this shaken once before…

"Lieutenant, you don't need to say anything more," Mullen said, stopping her. "I will hear your report when you have rested and had a chance to compose yourself."

Leen bowed her head, realizing that she must look like the wreck she felt like. Closing her eyes, Leen took a deep breath and saluted. "Understood, sir."

She turned and walked to the doors, stopping only for them to open and continuing on without looking back.

As she departed, Mullen faced the bridge ahead, with a tight-lipped, grim expression. The Joule Foundation had plenty of tricks up their sleeves, even in their militarily weak position. What troubled Mullen the most, however, was Leen's specific mention of Catalina's eye.

It brought back an old memory, of sitting beside a fire in the lap of his mother, as she stared into it and recited an old story that once was simply an old fable.

"… _And when they took all that could be taken from the land and the sky, their evil eyes turned to the last light in the dying world–the Spirit Stone, and the hands that held it."_

…

 _Following the failure of Garlyle's Operation Thrymskvida and our escape of New Parm Airspace, the Garlyle Forces seized control of New Parm and the New Parm Steamer along with it, effectively closing Western Elencia to the Old World. The Insurrection in the West, as it would become known, was the first publicly visible sign in the Joule Foundation's weakening power–never again would they control the New World–and the beginning of its end._

 _With the loss of West Elencia, we also lost our best chance at finding Justin at that time. My injuries and the Bivrost's lack of offensive capability meant we would lose even more time and his trail as we attended to those issues. Both Gontz and our new hire, Master Chang, believed however that next chance we'd get would be beyond the End of the World. Knowing that South Side punk was able to beat guys like Chang and the Sergeants… I believe them, too._

 _Before we could, we needed to be able to do our job in what was now deep within enemy territory. The Bivrost needed to be overhauled to defend itself against opponents well-suited for doing it harm, and we all needed to become stronger to fight the Garlyle. More importantly, we needed to make sure that the insurrection didn't fire up in the East as well._

 _It was time to return home, to the Old World, to Marna Fortress._


End file.
